What You Do To Me
by x1995x
Summary: Being the new girl in school, Gabriella doesn't know who to trust. Then comes the typical popular jock Troy who shows interest in her, at least she think he does. Unsure if his intentions are genuine, she tries to resist his charms. Will it be futile?
1. Chaos

Living with four older brothers is chaos, pure hell.

"Aaron Issac Montez, Aloysious Ian Montez! Stop with the music! The neighbors have already complained once and I don't need another police report from you two!" Maria Montez shouted from the kitchen at the Montez twins, who were playing loud thumping music from their stereo of the latest band.

"Ugh, Damon, please help me tell them to lower the volume of their music," Maria Montez pleaded with her oldest son and the oldest brother among the Montez siblings, "I doubt they can even hear me with their music so loud."

"On it mum," Damon sighed, getting up from the couch and climbing up the stairs. He knocked on the twin's bedroom door and without even waiting for them to respond, entered and ordered them in a stern voice to tone down.

"Come on, Damon! Don't be such a kill-joy!" Aaron, the older twin, said.

"Yeah! Join us! You know you want to!" Aloysious wriggled his eyebrows, suggesting that Damon ditch his role and responsibility of an older brother. Aaron and Aloysious were identical twins, meaning they look exactly alike, and only their immediate family and close friends could differentiate them apart. Aaron's face was slightly larger, probably since he was born first, but it was such a subtle difference that it can only be viewed from a certain angle. Other than that, it was like they were clones, even down to the last mole. Even their family has trouble telling them apart at times.

"No thanks," Damon muttered, "I can't even think straight with that annoying song stuck in my head." Damon turned on his heels to walk back down, but stopped short of the first step. He tilted his head slightly back and said, "I'm serious. Turn that damn music off or I swear I will break that stereo." Then, he continued his way down the steps, heading towards the living room.

"It's okay!" Aaron hollered from his room after Damon had already reached the bottom step, "It's Nick's!" He then held up his hand, just as Aloysious slapped it. One would think they had twin telepathy or something.

"What?" Nick, who was watching the television with Damon in the living room, exclaimed, pushing himself off his spot on the couch before climbing the steps two at a time, and forced open the twin's bedroom door as they tried to close it.

Aaron and Aloysious shared a look and grinned. "Come on little bro, you wouldn't dare hit us now, would you?" Aaron taunted. Aloysious followed suit and continued, "Yeah little Nicky, you gonna hit your big bros? There are two of us and one of you, plus we are _way_ stronger." Aloysious purposely dragged out the "way", trying to get under Nick's skin even more than they already have.

Nick's hand relaxed on their door and the twins immediately slammed the door shut. Nick swore under his breath and instead of returning back to the living room, he headed towards his room, which happened to be beside their youngest sister, Gabriella's room.

Gabriella watched as Nick hung his head down, slumping as he walked back to his room. She sighed, feeling sorry for him. Nicholas Ray Montez was the youngest male in the family, therefore, always the target for pranks and such. His siblings did not particularly like the name Nicholas as it sounded formal and scholar-like, hence shortening it to Nick or even Nicky. It is not unusual for him to be made fun of for his name in the Montez family, although the older brothers tend to antagonize him even more by taking his things and even forcing him to eat the vegetables while they took all the meat. Aaron and Aloysious are the more common culprits, but to say Damon had no part in it will be a total lie. They enjoy "having fun" with him, and even though Nick knows they are joking, he would sometimes get rather irritable by them. Gabriella does pity him sometimes, but what could she really do about it?

Aaron Issac Montez and Aloysious Ian Montez are the self-proclaimed "funny prankers" in the Montez family. No one argues with them there as they truly have done every sort of pranks from whoopee cushions to anything one can think of. They are really cheeky and it is a rare sight if you ever see them not smiling. _I've probably seen it only once or twice in my life and I live with them_, Gabriella thought to herself. Aaron is about ten minutes older than Aloysious and both their initials spell "AIM" which somehow Gabriella gets the feeling is not really a coincidence.

Then, there's Damon. His full name is Damon Zachary Montez. As mentioned, he's the oldest. At times, he acts like the father they never had and others he acts like well, Aaron and Aloysious. He can be really responsible when he wants to but most of the time he's just pretty good company. In Gabriella's opinion, he's probably transitioning from a boy to a man. _What's that called? Oh yeah, puberty_, Gabriella chuckled.

Then there's Gabriella herself. She is the only daughter in the Montez household and she is the youngest. To say she was protected by her big brothers since young is an underestimation. They started protecting her once they found out their mom was having her first girl. Gabriella likes that they have always been there for her no matter what and they would always do everything she wants. She knows she may have been spoilt rotten in that sense but she doesn't care. In fact, she relishes in it.

So, being the kind-hearted person that she is, she sighed and closed the book she was reading and got off her bed. She walked along the corridor, towards the twin's room, and knocked thrice before silently waiting outside.

"Busy!" she heard one of the twins say. There really was no difference in their voice.

"It's me," Gabriella said in a rather tired voice while rubbing her eyes.

The door opened instantly, increasing the volume of the already loud music. Gabriella could almost feel her head throbbing from the music and she wondered how they are able to stand it. Both twins appeared behind the door with a grin each. "Yo Gabs!" They both greeted simultaneously. "What brings you to this side of the house?" Aloysious questioned jokingly.

Gabriella smiled her sweetest smile at them and said, "Turn down the volume please? I'm kind of reading and I can't exactly concentrate."

She knew they would oblige to her request. She was their baby sister and she knew they would do anything as long as she asked. True enough, Aloysious turned around and switched off the music completely, causing the house to be engulfed in silence. "Thank you," she replied, "and please, please, please return Nick his stereo. Don't over-bully him."

"Okay," Aaron complied after a moment of hesitation, "anything for you, Gabi." He then lifted his hands to ruffle her hair, which was plaid loosely down her back, causing it to be in a mess. _Well, at least I got Nick his stereo back_, she comforted herself with that thought. She knew how much it meant to him seeing as it was a birthday gift from his best friend.

"You guys are the best!" she laughed, albeit not heartily, hugging the two of them as they each placed one hand on her back. As she headed back into her room, she turned around to make sure the twins were actually going to return it and not just saying words to pacify her. When she saw them carrying the stereo out of their room, she went straight back into her room and dove into her bed, picking up her book to carry on where she had left off.

Gabriella was reading a book for her English class, "To Kill A Mocking Bird". Usually she likes to read. In fact, reading is her life. It's a great way for her to pass the time and imagine that she lives in an alternate world where everything was different, not that she hates her life or anything, but it is rather cool to think of what it would be like if she could live in a story-book. Anyway, as said, she loves reading, but somehow this book just doesn't appeal to her in any way. It is such a bore and she has zilch idea on what is going on in the book. Every time she tried to read it, she finds her eyelids getting heavier though she tries to force her way through reading at least one chapter. Always, she manages to read a chapter but the thing was, her brain was always in such a hazy state that she doesn't register anything into her brain.

Today was no exception. After about fifteen minutes of flipping through pages of empty words, she convinced herself that sleeping would be a good thing. She fell asleep almost immediately and drifted off to dreamland. It only seemed like a few minutes before her mother tried to wake her up.

"Gabriella, wake up," Maria Montez shook her. Gabriella whined a little and begged her mother to let her sleep for just five more minutes though she had a feeling it came out in a mumble.

"You've slept enough, it's time for dinner."

All of a sudden, Gabriella's brain jolted awake as realization hit her. She slept at around two in the afternoon, if it's time for dinner, it has to be past six in the evening. She just slept for over four hours and she has tons of homework to complete, not to mention read that tedious book.

"Mom!" she panicked, "Why didn't you wake me earlier? I have so much homework and stuff, I won't have enough time to finish all of them and-"

Gabriella's mother cut her off mid-sentence and said in an irritated tone, "Not now Gabriella. I have important news to tell all of you during dinner and homework is not that big of a deal once you hear it."

Dumbfounded, Gabriella stared at her mother of fifteen going on sixteen years. Her mother had never lost her temper at Gabriella before, not even once. Her scolding the twins is a normalcy around here but not Gabriella. Maria Montez was always there and always kind, even when Gabriella complained about girls in her class for about the millionth time, her mother would always give her advice and calm her down. What was going on that made her so annoyed today?

Gabriella didn't ask more questions for fear of pissing her off even more. She trotted behind her like a confused puppy and started thinking. _Maybe it's something about our father_, she thought. She was always sensitive about that topic so no one would ever ask why. Up till today, the Montez siblings only had photos of him, and their mother would never open up about him, or even tell them why he wasn't with them anymore. It was a taboo to talk about their father in the Montez household. From what Gabriella gathered, the only thing she knew was that he probably left when her mother was still pregnant with her since even Damon only had a vague memory of him and the twins don't even remember him.

Gabriella sat down at her usual seat between Nick and Damon with the twins at the opposite side of the table. Their mother took her seat at the head of the table, letting out a sigh. Gabriella looked to Damon, giving him a quizzical look but he just shrugged. If Damon didn't know, no one else would. He was the oldest and their mother tells him everything. It's not like anyone expects their mother to tell the twins about anything.

Sure enough, when Gabriella looked in front of her, the twins weren't the least bit affected as they grinned from ear to ear, scooping up piles and piles of meat onto their plates, leaving the vegetables untouched. Honestly, sometimes Gabriella wonders if they would ever mature.

"Nick! Eat up all the vegetables would you?" Aaron asked before roaring into laughter with Aloysious.

"Yeah sure," Nick replied sarcastically, "right after you eat my shit!"

"Up top!" Damon turned and held his palm out to Nick behind Gabriella's back. Nick happily obliged.

"Why you little squirt!" Aloysious got off his seat and went around the table to Nick's, effectively putting Nick's head in a headlock.

"Get off of me!" Nick growled.

"Make me!"

"Stop it!" Damon stood and tried to break them up, which would have worked if Aaron had not joined in the fight. Damon was a lot bigger than them and would have easily separated two of them, but since Aaron joined in, it was a little more complicated trying to pry them both off Nick, as it seems as though their twin telepathy is preventing Damon from restraining them both.

Gabriella, on the other hand, turned around from my seat and watched them go. This is the kind of entertainment she got everyday and she is not worried that anyone would get hurt as they do it all the time. Maybe a bruise of a nosebleed but that's about it. They can take care of themselves. She smiled as she watched Aaron and Aloysious move like synchronized partners, trying to get away from Damon while still torturing Nick.

"We're moving," a quiet voice was heard, and all heads turned at the same time. Their mother was sitting at her seat with a weary look on her face as all the Montez children searched for some hint of a joke. They remained silent for a few seconds, even the twins who were always making noise.

Their mother broke the silence. "I got a new job, it pays well but I have to go to___Albuquerque._ I'm not leaving you guys behind, but not because I don't trust you, I just… don't know how often I can come back and I would really prefer that we stay as a family."

As she ended her reasons for the shocking revelation, the eerie silence continued for a few heartbeats. It was quite rare to hear the house so quiet, so much that Gabriella was actually feeling uncomfortable. They all stared at their mother like she wasn't making any sense but their mother only hung her head down as if ashamed or too tired to talk to her children, which in a way made Gabriella pity her a little.

The unusual silence was broken yet again, but this time by all of Gabriella's brothers. They all shouted together all at once that what they said was practically indecipherable. All that Gabriella could make out was that all four of them had the same bewildered yet mad expressions on their faces as their hands flailed around in all directions, trying to get their point across. One look and anyone can tell that they were fuming mad. Why wouldn't they? They lived here for the whole of their lives and they know every inch of the neighborhood, every person living on this street and all their memories were here. Gabriella would get mad too if she wasn't feeling that sense of numbness, most likely due to the shock, in her.

"Stop!" my mother commanded, "We are moving and that's final. We move this coming Saturday, you have all week to pack and say your goodbyes. Then you start school next Wednesday at your new schools." There was a tone of finality in her voice that was barely heard before. She would often let her children decide, or at least let them have their say but it appears that this time, there would be no negotiations. They were moving.

Disgruntled but with no other options, all the boys sat back down for their unfinished dinner in silence. No one had much appetite anymore and the twins did not even finish their plate of meat that they had taken before. One by one, after they finished their quiet dinner, they all left the table and locked themselves in their respective rooms. Once again, the house was silent as the night as they all pondered over what their mother said.

Throughout the dinner, Gabriella was silent. She didn't utter a single word since her mother told them they were moving, but many questions were burning through her head like wild fire.

Albuquerque? As in New Mexico? Did her mother know about this earlier? Is that why her mother said she wouldn't need to worry about homework? Why do they have to move so fast? Can't it wait till the end of the school year? What will it be like? What about her friends here? Is she just suppose to say goodbye and be done with it? All these fundamental questions and more were filling her head to its maximum capacity and she honestly just couldn't take it anymore.

It was a moment later when she grabbed her towel and her pajamas and took a cool refreshing bath to clear her head. After, she laid on the bed, forcing herself not to think anymore and just rest for the day. Soon enough, she laid in deep slumber as she subconsciously anticipated the chaos that would ensue the next day.


	2. Moving

By the end of the week, the house was empty. All the furniture had been sold as Maria Montez said that she wanted a fresh start, so everything should be brand new. The previous night, the final night they would be staying in their old house, they slept on the floor, as their beds had been collected the day before and taken to somewhere unknown to them. It was an uncomfortable experience and Gabriella hoped that she never had to do it again.

Also, most of their things were moved to their new house early so that they would be able to unpack them immediately as soon as they arrived. All their textbooks and personal items were packed into giant cardboard boxes and placed in the moving truck two days before they actually move so for the next day, they were deprived of their television and laptops. The only things they were allowed to keep were a few sets of clothes to wear, bathing necessities and such. It was rather boring since there was no form of entertainment for them so most of them spent our day outside.

In a way, Gabriella felt that it was a good thing as it forced them to spend their last day with their friends and neighbors. Gabriella had been so busy packing everything in her room and even helped her mother pack the storeroom and kitchen that she barely had anytime to talk to her friends. She had been staying up till one or sometimes two in the morning, helping her mother decide on what she should keep and what she should just throw out which wore Gabriella out tremendously. With the help of her four brothers, many unnecessary things were thrown into the garbage cans outside their house. Finally, after many late nights, the Montez family was done but even then they had to check to make sure that they cleared out every single thing.

Gabriella's best friends already knew of course. She called them the day after Maria Montez told her children and they took it harder than Gabriella expected. They insisted Gabriella came over to one of their house to talk about it. Initially Gabriella was reluctant, but in the end she agreed to go over to Victoria's house after she was done packing for the day. However, by the time she was there, it was almost half past two and she only managed to talk for fifteen minutes before she dozed off. She recalled talking about how different it would be for them if she moved and how much they'd miss her. For the rest of the night, Gabriella slept in Victoria's house, who happened to be her closest friend. They talked all night long while Gabriella slept and they continued when dawn broke, but Gabriella simply had no time and had to go back home to pack again. So, she didn't actually get to talk to them.

The day before they moved, Gabriella was determined to spend the whole day out with the friends that she probably would never see again. They went to all their old hangouts, talked about jokes they used to laugh at, and just having a blast. They had agreed not to talk about the move as it would probably just upset them so they just decided to enjoy themselves for the last time.

"Remember when we first met at this playground?" Victoria asked, sitting on the swings.

Gabriella smiled at the memory while playing with the sand on the ground. "You were playing by yourself saying that your best friend doesn't want to be friends with you anymore because she found a better one. I happened to be there because Damon was supposed to take care of me but he wanted to meet some friends that were playing at this playground," Gabriella recalled, "How old were we? Like six?"

"Give or take a year," Victoria laughed, gripping on to the metal chains on the swing, "I feel so stupid thinking about it now, like, why did I even get upset about a friend who didn't care a damn about me when I have my best friend forever standing right in front of me?" Victoria bent forward to put an arm around Gabriella's shoulders whilst still on the swing, as all their other friends laughed.

"Guess you were too dumb then!" Will, another friend of theirs, added, pretending to knock onto Victoria's head.

"I guess, but at least I matured, unlike…" Victoria left her sentence hanging and smirked at Will.

"Will just got owned!" Paul, Will's best friend, high-fived Victoria, while Gabriella just laughed along. _I am really going to really miss them_, she thought.

"Yeah? Let's hear you say that again with my fist in your mouth!" Will challenged, chasing Paul around the playground and its many slides. Gabriella was grateful that no one else was around to watch this embarrassing sight.

The boys continued to run up and down the playground, even doing silly things like attempting to climb to the top of the roof of the children's playhouse while the girls just watched, cheering them on at times. Victoria kept calling Will "Willy" as she knew it bugged him a lot. It was a name he really hated and Victoria was taking advantage of it. Occasionally, Will would turn and ask her to stop which only made her do it more. Eventually, Will managed to tackle Paul into the sand and they called a truce which lasted for about five seconds as Paul immediately wrestled Will into the sand again.

Gabriella and her friends left the playground shortly after but their banter continued. They walked towards the park that was their usual place and sat down at their spot under the tree. It was a shaded area and although Gabriella thought that the grass is itchy there but still it was always a good place for them to talk about anything.

"God, remember Icky Vicky?" Lizzy spoke in a disgusted tone. Victoria turned to give Lizzy a stare to which Lizzy replied, "You know I'm not talking about you, lighten up!" Victoria never liked to hear them talk about Vicky as their names were so similar and it was insulting to her.

Gabriella placed a hand on Victoria's shoulder and squeezed. Then Gabriella said, "Yeah, what about?"

"She threatened us right here to leave cause it was the only shaded area in the entire park and the sun was freaking hot that day." Lizzy pointed to the ground.

"Ugh! I can't believe we fell for her stupid threats at that time! I think I almost wet myself that day," Victoria lamented, "Actually, I think I would if Damon and Nick weren't there to save us from the girl."

Gabriella remembered that incident. At that point in time, the girls had not met Will and Paul, and it was just three of them. They were about eight and boys were disgusting to them at that time. Well, except for their brothers of course. Damon and Nick happened to walk by that day during their jog and saw the three girls in trouble. Obviously, since Gabriella was their one and only sister, they came running towards them asking what the matter was. Vicky, no matter how scary she was, would not dare take on two boys that were older and much stronger than she was. She backed off but she wasn't pleased, not by a long shot.

"I always knew my brothers were good for something," Gabriella said proudly. Everyone chuckled. All of them knew Gabriella's brothers fairly well and they knew what her brothers were like. Most of the time the four boys were couch potatoes and did nothing much, but they do have their moments.

"Speaking of, what's going on with Damon and Jo?" Will asked.

"They broke up. Right after Damon told Jo about us leaving, something about not doing long-distances. It was actually not that interesting since there was no big fight," Gabriella shrugged, while all of them laughed. In actual fact, it is quite sad that they broke up. Jo was a nice girl, and she was pretty too. She and Damon were good together and it is unfortunate that the Montez family had to move.

"That's too bad. You know, being the nice awesome guy that I am, maybe I should go take care of Jo. Give me her number would you?" Paul joked. It wasn't exactly a secret in town that Jo was smoking hot.

"Dude, don't be selfish! Share with me!" Will punched Paul in the arm lightly.

"No way, I call dibs!" Paul retorted, "Find yourself some other girl, she's mine!"

All of them laughed. Jo would never date any of them. They were too young for her and she's the type that will not date younger men, no matter their looks. However, talking about Jo opened up the topic of crushes. The five good friends spent the rest of the day talking about who is cute and who is just trying to be. They also revealed all their secret crushes and sometimes, when someone names an unexpected person, it would spark off a debate on whether the person deserves to be called "cute".

That day ended way too soon for Gabriella's liking and they all had to leave. Gabriella remembered all of them asking her to keep in contact with them after she moves, which made her even more reluctant to leave. As soon as no one was around, Gabriella started to tear up but she told herself that everything will turn out fine. In a way, it worked as by the time Gabriella reached home, she no longer felt like crying.

Now, the Montez family was loading all their baggage into the family car. Actually, the boys loaded them; Maria Montez and her daughter were doing the last minute checks on the house. As soon as they were done, all of them took one last look at the house that was no longer theirs and slowly, one by one got into the car. All of them looked out the window as their mother began to drive and the image of their house slowly got smaller until they could see it no more.

Gabriella felt a wave of sadness wash over her. That was her home for fifteen years. Fifteen long years. They had spent Christmas and New Year and Halloween and every holiday one can think of in there. They would run all over the house and even play hide and seek in there when they were very young and bored. They all left their marks in that house one way or another and that home was so special to them. Now, they had to leave it all behind and live in a house that is brand new and totally foreign to them. When they get older, what will be there to remind them of their childhood if they had to live in a new home?

As Gabriella sat in the back seat with Nick, she pondered about all these. After awhile, their mother took out some biscuits and bread that she had bought along the way and the brothers again had a huge fight over them. They had not had breakfast yet since they were in a rush and Gabriella could feel her hunger pangs as soon as the smell of her favorite crackers wafted in the family car. However, Gabriella was not really in the mood to fight with her brothers to give her the biscuits so she just sat there, knowing that they would eventually save her some of the food. She was right.

"Hey, Gabs," Nick put a reassuring hand on Gabriella's thigh, "want some food? You've been awfully quiet." Nick held out the packet of Gabriella's favorite crackers to her, which were only a quarter eaten.

"Sure," Gabriella replied, taking a piece of cracker from the packet, "and I'm fine, really."

"Everything's going to be fine you know." Nick gave his sister a knowing look. He always was able to read Gabriella's mind.

"I know," Gabriella said in the most cheerful voice she could manage, which was not all that cheerful at all.

Nick just nodded and left her to her thoughts, putting the packet of crackers at the empty seat beside her. Gabriella munched on the crackers slowly and silently, trying to ignore the noise that her brothers were making.

After quite some time, Gabriella had unknowingly fallen asleep on Nick's shoulder. She has got to give him props for managing to stay so still for so long since she slept rather peacefully. She drowsily lifted her head off Nick's shoulders after a few hours of sleeping and looked out the window. The sun was already setting and Gabriella saw that they were already in Albuquerque. If she was not wrong, they should be reaching the new house soon.

Nick turned to her and took off one of the earpiece that was plugged into his ear. "Sleep well?" he asked.

"Mmh," Gabriella gave a satisfied reply and knew that Nick would understand.

"We're reaching soon I think," Nick told her what she had already guessed, "not more than ten minutes I reckon."

Gabriella nodded and took in the scene in the car. Damon, Aaron and Aloysious were fast asleep, and Aaron and Aloysious were snoring loudly. _Boys can be such pigs_, she thought.

True enough, after less than ten minutes, Maria stopped the car in the driveway of a house. It was not as big as their old house but it will suffice. It was a two storey house with a front yard that too was not as big as their previous one, but it was not like they used the front yard for anything anyway. Gabriella did not really know what kind of house she had expected so she didn't know how to feel about the new home. In a way, it is similar to their old house but yet Gabriella knew it was not. She felt a little home sick but at the same time, she knew that that house was their new home now. She had so many conflicting emotions that all she could do was stare at the house that they now call home.

"Okay we're here! Get up lazy bones!" Their mother started to shake all three of her sleeping sons, but all she got from them was a lot of groaning.

"Mom!" Aloysious pleaded.

"We're at the new house! Don't you want to see it?" their mother tried to get them to be more excited about the new house but to no avail.

After much persuading, everyone woke up and exited the car. All of them stared at the new house for about five seconds before all four boys began to shove one another, trying to get into the house first. There was no question that they were now awake.

As soon as Gabriella stepped into the house, she heard one of the twins shout from somewhere at the back of the house, "Dude! There's a basketball court in our backyard!" Following that were many excited voices talking all at once.

Gabriella's brothers have always been hardcore basketball fans. It started with Damon. Damon joined the basketball team when he was a freshman. Although at that time, he joined the team on a whim, he soon began to like the game. He was a rather good player if Gabriella said so herself. Often, he would be found spinning a basketball on his finger and going to the nearby basketball court near my old house to shoot baskets. The twins followed him on the spy a few times and they found that both of them enjoyed the sport as well. As soon as they were in on the first day of their freshmen year, they both signed up to try out for the team. Naturally, basketball fever caught up to Nick and he tried out the following year.

Ever since, all four of them are found playing two-on-two matches more often than not and sometimes Gabriella will even tag along just for kicks. They don't mind her at all so she would just stand in the sidelines and watch. In a way, Gabriella did get influenced and she knew a few tricks but she was not obsessed like them. She watched and played a little but just barely. So she was only mildly interested when she found out about the basketball court in the backyard.

After the excitement died down, it was time to pick rooms. Their mother got the master bedroom of course and the rest of the rooms were up to them to pick. There were more than enough rooms for them, so they each got their own except for the twins who prefer sleeping in the same room. Gabriella picked a room that was just big enough for her and Nick chose the room beside her again. Damon's room was at the other side of the house while the twin's room was opposite his. Since the twins decided to share a room, they now had two guest bedrooms.

All the furniture was already in place but the room was almost bare. They each had a closet, a bed and a table but other than that it was completely empty. It felt almost stranger-like to sleep in a room so devoid of personal belongings that Gabriella immediately began to unpack her things after she requested her brothers to help her bring all her things up to her room. They didn't even hesitate when she asked and she felt a twinge of guilt that she was taking advantage of them like that.

Gabriella only managed to unpack one third of her belongings before she was exhausted. She took a bath but that did not really help much with her heavy eyelids. She persuaded herself to lie on the bed for awhile but she ended up falling asleep.

Over the next few days, Gabriella spent her time unpacking and watching her brothers play basketball in their back yard. They were extremely excited about the "killer basketball court" that they almost couldn't spend anytime, apart from meal time, away from it. Day after day, Gabriella tried to get used to her new home and spend more time with her brothers since they have not met anyone new yet. As the days went by, the countdown to the start of a new school life neared to zero. On the night before school began, Gabriella laid in bed wondering what her new school is like and did her best to not scare myself, though the fear of being alienated in East High seemed real enough. With those thoughts in mind, Gabriella drifted off to sleep, praying with all her heart that East High will prove miracles for her.


	3. Seat Swap

The incessant beeping of the alarm clock was getting on Gabriella's nerves. She covered her ears trying to block out the noise that was determined to set her over the edge. It was the first day of school and she did not need this. She shut her eyes tight, hoping that it will help somehow but it was no use. The sound continued ringing in her ears and she was on the verge of blowing up.

"Wake up! Your alarm clock has been ringing for over ten minutes now! It's your first day of school and you better not be late!" Maria's authorative voice resounded through the house. The annoying beeping came to a halt and Gabriella was extremely grateful for it.

"Mum! Just a little while more! We'll run to school! We'll eat breakfast on the way just please!" one of the twins begged.

"No! You still have to bring Nick and Gabriella, remember? Now seriously get up you two!" Maria shouted back.

Damon had just started his first year of college back at their old hometown after graduating from high school last year. Hence, he would be continuing his first year in a local college right here in Albuquerque. It was a rather good college and it was not that far from home so Damon did not particularly mind. The twins were already in their senior year in their old high school so they would now continue their senior year in East High. Nick was enrolled as a junior, and Gabriella, a sophomore. So currently Aaron and Aloysious were the oldest among the siblings who were still going to high school, though they are not doing as good a job of taking care of the rest of their siblings as Damon did last year.

Gabriella had long been ready for the first day of school. She had woken up early that morning and did her morning routine. She dressed in a simple light blue shirt and jeans, wearing a jacket over herself. It was a safe choice and she knew it. Who wanted to stand out on the first day of school? She also contemplated pulling her hair up in a ponytail but decided against it. She only wore make up for special occasions so she was done an hour before school started and was now eating her breakfast slowly. Nick had joined her shortly after and was too ready for school unlike the twins.

After much pulling, tugging and complaining, the twins were finally up and they made sure that they went about their morning routine slowly, most likely just to anger their mother a little more. It was almost like their job. They took their time brushing their teeth, choosing their clothes and eating their breakfast. Gabriella could tell that their mother was getting exasperated with them which only amused Aaron and Aloysious even more.

It was only fifteen minutes before school started when they finally left the house. Their mother drove them to school on her way to work which took approximately ten minutes, which meant that they only had five minutes to get their schedules and find their classes in a new school. _Nice way to start the day_, Gabriella thought sarcastically in her seat at the back of the car.

It was only a short while later that they reached their new school East High. As soon as Gabriella exited her mother's car, she knew that the school placed big emphasis on sports. The school was decorated inside out with banners, announcing the championship games that were coming up soon. The school was decked out in red and white and the school mascot, a gold plated wildcat, was situated right in front of the school's fountain that was at the entrance of the school building.

Looking around at the student body, she could see cheerleaders flocking about boys holding basketballs, whom she could only assume are the almighty jocks in East High. The boys were giving each other high-fives and fist bumps and some were hugging each other in their "manly" way as a form of greeting. As soon as they were done, most of them lounged around, leaning on their sports cars and some were even making out with cheerleaders on them. Gabriella assumed that they were probably the top dogs here since there were more banners about basketball than any other sport, and the fact that cheerleaders only flirt with the best made her only that much more sure. She only allowed herself one look at them before she turned away and headed straight for the front office. She did not need any kind of attention at the moment and she certainly was not looking for any.

With her brother at her side, Gabriella pushed her way through the crowds towards the front office which luckily, was easy to find. Giving all their names to the smiling lady behind the desk, she quickly clicked something on her computer before pulling out four different sheets of paper and handed each to us.

"These are your new class schedules," she explained, "the rooms are at the bottom, and so are the names of your teachers." She gave them some time to look through our respective schedules before asking, "Any questions?" All four of them shook their heads and she gave them a wide smile, "Your class starts in five minutes. Good day." Then, she returned to the paperwork in front of her.

The Montez siblings turned to leave the office and as soon as they are out, released a sigh. No one was looking forward to being new kids in school. It was going to be a long day for the Montez siblings.

They bade each other good bye and started looking for their own respective rooms. Gabriella started walking in a random direction where most people were walking, but after some time, she realized she was lost. The school was bigger than she originally thought. As she continued walking, she got more and more worried that she would never be able to find the correct class. Things got worse as Gabriella started panicking when the bell had gone off. She ran through the hallways, desperately trying to find the correct room. Tardy was _not_ in her dictionary.

_Should have asked the desk lady for directions_, Gabriella mentally chided herself. The corridors were already empty and she was still looking for the right room. She had already climbed numerous flights of stairs and she really did not want to climb another. She started to get tired after some time but then she realized that the numbers on the rooms were getting more and more similar to the room she was looking for. She walked in that general direction and soon enough, she saw the exact same numbers that was printed on her schedule on top of a room. She breathed a sigh of relief. Clutching on to the handle of the door, Gabriella closed her eyes and took a deep breath before pushing down the handle and entering the classroom full of staring people.

"Ah," the plump teacher said in mock surprise, "and your reason for being late?" The teacher peered over her spectacles, as if examining Gabriella. She wore a colorful floral shirt with long pants and a scarf that was too outstanding for Gabriella's taste. Although the teacher was not exactly very tall, Gabriella somehow felt intimidated by her presence.

"I'm Gabriella Montez. I'm new here and I got lost," Gabriella explained, while biting her lips, "are you Ms. Darbus?" Gabriella could feel the heat rise up her cheeks as she could feel all the students looking at her, evaluating her.

"The one and only," Ms. Darbus said in a whimsical tone and bowed. Gabriella swallowed the saliva that was stuck in her throat. "Take a seat Ms. Montez, beside Ms. Evans over there," Ms. Darbus gestured at the empty seat at the back of the class, "and being new does not give you a reason to be late. I will pardon you just this once but _do not_ let this happen again."

"Yes ma'am." Gabriella replied timidly before moving to the back of the class. She was sure she heard a few snickers from students in the class and she immediately tried to hide her face behind her brown hair. This was the reason why she decided to let it down today, to hide and shield herself from attention.

"Where was I? Oh right…Cell phones _must_ be turned off at all times and I cannot emphasize this any further…" Ms. Darbus continued.

Meanwhile, Gabriella sat down in her seat at the back. She placed her bag beside her chair and looked down at the table, afraid to even look around. She stared at the table for a long time, thinking about how her brothers were doing, before she had a sinking suspicion that she was being watched. Her head lifted in a swift motion and her eyes darted around the class quickly. She soon realized that almost everyone had stopped staring, all except for the one boy whom she settled her eyes on.

Sitting at the front row with his body is half turned, he looking straight at her with his blue eyes. He had sandy brown hair that was long enough to cover his eyebrows but yet short enough that his amazing blue eyes could still be seen. His face was flawless with not a single pimple or freckle in sight and his skin was tan but not like those fake tans that most people are trying to achieve. Looking at his arms, Gabriella could tell he worked out but not so much that he was extremely buff but just fit enough which was exactly the kind she liked. Gabriella never did have a thing for buff boys with muscles bulging from underneath their shirts, she much preferred guys that looked fit but not over the top. He was wearing a black shirt underneath his white jacket and jeans. Gabriella felt an unexplainable strong pull towards him and she couldn't stop staring at him for unknown reasons.

Behind him was another boy with big bushy hair and dark skin who was murmuring something in his ear. With his back facing Gabriella, the bushy-haired boy was talking excitedly to the blue-eyed boy in front but it seems the blue-eyed boy was not really listening and was looking intently at Gabriella for some reason. As soon as he saw her looking at him with a puzzled expression, the corners of his lips twitched up in a smirk. Seeing his amused expression, Gabriella looked down once more, trying to hide her face.

Is there something wrong with the way she looked? Gabriella looked down and tried to see if her shirt was maybe worn inside out. She looked over herself thrice and did not find anything wrong with herself. She looked up to see that the boy had already turned back around to face the teacher. _Did I imagine that?_ Gabriella questioned herself. It was then that Gabriella noticed that the jacket the blue-eyed boy was wearing was not an ordinary jacket. It was a team jacket, which only meant that he was one of them: the popular kids.

While still deep in thought, the girl beside Gabriella that Ms. Darbus called "Ms. Evans" spoke up.

"What are you doing?" The girl beside her turned herself in her seat such that she was facing Gabriella directly. She was dressed in a shirt that covered only one side of her shoulder while the other hung at the lower part of her upper arm. It was white and she wore a denim jean skirt to match it. On her neck were several necklaces that were mostly silver in color and the many bracelets on her hand clanged when she moved her hands. She also accessorized herself with a belt that had several long strands hanging at her side down her long legs. Overall, she looked great.

"I…" Gabriella stuttered, "Is there something wrong with the way I look?"

"Nothing wrong, playing it a little safe but nothing wrong," "Ms. Evans" said simply, "I'm Sharpay Evans by the way."

"Gabriella Montez," Gabriella introduced.

"Why do you think there's something wrong with the way you look?" Sharpay tilted her head with quizzical look on her face.

"I just…"Gabriella started, "Nothing I guess, maybe I'm paranoid?" Gabriella chuckled.

Sharpay laughed as well. "You know, I could always give you some tips on dressing up," Sharpay offered with a smile. "I mean, you don't look half bad if I do say so myself, and just so you know, I don't give out compliments easily," Sharpay winked.

"Thanks," Gabriella replied, "maybe next time."

"So…" Sharpay started, "I saw you checking out Troy Bolton just now." Sharpay jerked her chin in the direction of the blue-eyed boy.

Embarrassed at being caught, Gabriella tried unsuccessfully to defend herself. "I…He…He stared at me first," she said weakly, knowing that her argument was flawed.

"It's okay, you know? As in you're not the only one that finds him attractive. Many girls here do. The Bolton brothers are like legends here."

"The Bolton brothers?" Gabriella felt like a dumb kid that needed to be told everything from scratch and it was not a good feeling. She liked knowing everything.

"Tyler Reeve Bolton, Tyson Drake Bolton and Troy Alexander Bolton," Sharpay placed her finger down after each name and at the last name, jerked her thumb towards Troy. "It's like they almost rule the school here." Sharpay said as if it was a matter of fact.

"So they're obnoxious, arrogant popular kids that bully nerds?" Gabriella asked in a joking manner but she really was curious. She wanted to know if Troy's smirk meant that he was laughing at her, or planning some kind of prank. If East High really had a bully problem, she would be in so much trouble since she can almost be considered a nerd.

Sharpay let out a laugh. "You, my friend, watch too much movies. And no, they are not at all like that. Although sometimes they do throw their weight around a bit, I mean who wouldn't if you were so popular and all, but still they are pretty down-to-earth and nice guys." Sharpay shrugged, "that's part of the reason why so many people are worshipping them."

"Ms. Evans! Ms. Montez! May I remind you that this is homeroom, not free period! Talk at your own time!" Ms. Darbus's overly-exaggerated voice rang throughout the class room just as the bell rang and everyone began to pack up. Gabriella tried to give an expression that said she was sorry to Ms. Darbus but Ms. Darbus did not even look in her direction. Gabriella sighed. Guess the first day of school is not working out too great for her.

"Run along now, off to your next class!" Ms. Darbus hurried the class out of her class. Gabriella quickly packed her books and exited but as soon as Ms. Darbus saw Gabriella and Sharpay leaving she added sternly, "And next time I hope you remember that the classroom is a place of learning."

Gabriella was starting to get irritated. How did she end up in Ms. Darbus's black book on her first day? She gave a frustrated sigh, which Sharpay heard.

"Don't worry about Ms. Darbus." Sharpay brushed off Ms. Darbus's exaggerated behavior, "She's always like this, I can help you handle her if you want. But now, what's your next class?"

Gabriella looked through her pile of books and finally retrieved her schedule. Pressing a finger on the paper, she read, "Biology."

"Same as me then. Come on, Mr. Gabriel's a great teacher. You won't want to miss anything!" Sharpay pulled on Gabriella's upper arm, dragging her to their next lesson.

By the time they reached, there were only two seats left, which happened to be right in front of Troy and his big-haired friend. They were surrounded by quite a few cheerleaders who were all trying to get Troy's attention. Troy seemed rather undisturbed and just continued talking with his friend, while all the cheerleaders giggled when he laughed.

"You don't mind sitting with me again do you?" Sharpay joked, "I'm the only one that doesn't have a seating partner last semester so I guess you're stuck with me anyway."

"I don't mind at all."Gabriella was even grateful that Sharpay will sit with her. If Gabriella could name one good thing out of today, it would be that she made a friend like Sharpay.

"My seat is right over there," Sharpay pointed to the seat in front of Troy. "And just so you know, I do have friends, but most of them have different classes from me," Sharpay said with a thoughtful expression.

Gabriella chucked. The thought of Sharpay not having friends did not even cross Gabriella's mind. Sharpay seemed like a fun person to hang out with, and she had no doubt that Sharpay had lots of friends. However, that being said, Gabriella also knew that the more friends Sharpay had, the less time Sharpay would probably have for Gabriella, which made Gabriella a little depressed. She really did like Sharpay's company. Sharpay was trustworthy.

Both Sharpay and Gabriella walked over to their seats where a few cheerleaders were. Sharpay cleared her throat purposely, such that the cheerleader turned around and saw them. Sharpay gave the cheerleaders a sickly sweet smile that was almost on the line of sarcastic. Gabriella noticed that and guessed that Sharpay was not a fan of cheerleaders.

The cheerleaders with identical red and white outfits each gave Sharpay a cold stare of their own but Sharpay held her smile in place, until the cheerleader had returned to their seats at the other side of the class did Sharpay stop smiling and roll her eyes to show her dissatisfaction.

"Dumb bimbos." Gabriella heard Sharpay murmur but did not question it. With that, Gabriella was certain that Sharpay disliked and almost despised the red and white girls in mini skirts.

Sharpay and Gabriella took their seats just at Mr. Gabriel, a young man that is around his twenties, walked in. He removed his hat and coat and placed them on his table. He then turned around with a beaming smile on his face.

"Morning class!" Mr. Gabriel greeted cheerfully. "For this semester, we'll be continuing where we left off last semester but since today is the first day of the new semester, I'll just be going through the syllabus for until the end of the year. However, there are some matters at hand that I need to handle first." Mr. Gabriel paused, "I hear there is a new addition to the class?"

Again, all eyes turned to look at Gabriella and she felt a little annoyed. Haven't these people seen a new girl before? She raised her hand.

"Ah yes, they told me you would be here Ms. …" Mr. Gabriel trailed off.

"Gabriella Montez."

"Gabriella Montez…" Mr. Gabriel repeated slowly, picking up a clipboard to check something. "Yes I see," Mr. Gabriel looked up to look at her, "it says here that you used to get straight 'A's for biology in your old school."

Although that last sentence was probably a statement, it sounded as if it was a question so Gabriella nodded while biting her lip. She did not particularly like her results being read out in front of the whole class.

"Not bad, but do not get complacent, I'll still be observing you," he reminded.

"Yes sir," Gabriella replied politely.

Mr. Gabriel put down his clipboard and looked at the whole class. "Okay," he clapped, "next, I need to rearrange your seating positions." A few groans were heard around the class, but Mr. Gabriel continued, "I know you have already chosen your seats last semester but some of your grades are lower than expected and I want all of you to concentrate this semester. So without further ado…" he looked around the class and settled on the group of cheerleader seated together.

"Marni, change with George." Gabriella looked over at them and saw the cheerleaders with a stunned expression on their faces while a bespectacled boy with numerous pimples on his face seated at the back of the class grinned, showing off his braces. The cheerleaders recomposed themselves after a few heartbeats and began to beg Mr. Gabriel to give them another chance. It was almost priceless the way the cheerleaders protested while George eagerly gathered his things and made his way over to the cheerleaders. Beside Gabriella, Sharpay coughed a few times, trying to hide her laughter.

"Sorry girls, this is what happens when you don't keep your grades up," Mr. Gabriel stopped the cheerleaders.

Grudgingly, Marni then gathered her thing and moved to the back, casting a longing look at her friends, as she took her seat beside George's equally disturbing friend.

"Right then," Mr. Gabriel continued unaffected, "next for the seat swap is Chad and-"

"What?" A booming voice came from behind Gabriella, causing her to jump.

"Mr. Gabriel, sir, your honour," the big bushy-haired boy pleaded, "you can't do this. Troy and I, we're brothers, you can't split brothers up!" He clapped on Troy's back for emphasis.

"Chad, if Troy can be split up from his real brothers, I think you'll survive without Troy once in a while," Mr Gabriel reasoned, putting his palm up towards Chad, silencing him when Mr. Gabriel saw that he was about to start. "Okay, back to what I was saying," Mr. Gabriel resumed while Chad leaned back on his chair crossing his arms over his chest, "Chad, you will change with Kayla."

A loud gasp was heard and a squeal followed not long after. The cheerleaders whispered excitedly and the girl Gabriella assumed was Kayla started to pick up all her books. Chad on the other hand, had to drag himself to get out of his seat.

"Can she not scream?" Sharpay huffed beside me.

"Wait, on second thought, maybe not," Mr. Gabriel raised his voice so that he could be heard over the chatter. Chad immediately looked relieved while Kayla dropped her books and gave an angry pout. Mr. Gabriel looked around for a moment before his eyes landed on Gabriella.

"Gabriella, you will change seats with Chad, so you will be sitting with Troy. You don't mind do you?" Mr. Gabriel asked with a smile on his face.

Gabriella's eyes widened in shock and her mouth gapped open in surprise. She could feel the stares from the entire class that were burning holes through her head. Only one thing came to her mind.

_What?_


	4. Not Easy Being New

Gabriella could feel the intense unhappy stares from the cheerleaders for getting to sit with Troy, she could feel the mocking stares from some of her other classmates for the way she probably looked right at that moment, and she could feel Troy's stare from behind her, though she's unsure what kind of stare he's giving her. She really didn't like the stares she was given, yet all she could do at that point in time was stare at Mr. Gabriel. _How ironic_, she thought.

Sharpay, seeing Gabriella's unresponsiveness, nudged Gabriella with her elbow. It was like a wake up call for Gabriella and she finally seemed to be in control of herself again. She looked at Sharpay gratefully for a moment and turned back to Mr. Gabriel.

"I-" Gabriella uttered, but she did not manage to complete that sentence as Mr. Gabriel cut her off. What she meant to say was that she would much rather be seated next to Sharpay who had somehow or rather become her tour guide and info guide in East High. She was new and she needed someone to teach her the ropes and she would much rather it be Sharpay whom she felt she could actually comfortable with.

"It's okay," Mr. Gabriel joked, "you don't have to answer. I know you are probably too shocked that you are going to seat beside the boy who has a major part in helping us clinch the basketball championships last year and hopefully this year as well."

"Darn well we are!" Chad cheered. "My boy Troy's got mad skills!" Following that, the entire classroom erupted into cheers and the excitement in class only grew. _This school is even more obsessed with basketball than my brothers_, Gabriella immediately thought.

Mr. Gabriel waited for the excitement in class to die down before smirking, "Plus, I know how many of you girls are smitten with him."

The girls in the class started talking loudly and many sighs were heard amidst the gushing. As Gabriella looked around, it appeared that every single girl was chatting with another, and all their topics revolved around Troy. Even Sharpay herself had also included herself in one of the conversations, although she was not as excited as some of the other girls, Gabriella could tell that Troy definitely had some effect on her. Meanwhile, Gabriella had accidentally heard Chad saying softly, "Turn on the Bolton charm!" and then two distinct soft laughter.

Gabriella felt like she had been ridiculed for some reason. Even though those comments weren't directed towards her, she felt like she was the butt of their jokes. She knew she was being over sensitive but that was the way she was. She could feel the blood rising up to her cheeks and knew that soon her blush will be obvious to all. She tried to hide it once more. Seems like she's been doing that a lot today, and it's only the second class of the first day of school.

"Okay, so Chad and Gabriella, change places and let me get ready to discuss this semester's syllabus," Mr. Gabriel concluded.

Gabriella gave Sharpay a look that said she didn't want to move but Sharpay only whispered back an "it'll be fine" before pushing her gently. Gabriella got her books and got off her seat. She trudged to the back where Chad was doing the same. They looked at each other wordlessly before they both heaved a sigh and walk towards their respective places.

As Gabriella sat down, she didn't allow herself one look at Troy. She made use of her hair like a curtain to block her view of Troy throughout the lesson while she just flipped through her books without listening to the teacher. Syllabuses were nothing, they were barely important. It was just a way to get students into the school mood after the holidays.

During the entire lesson, Gabriella did not feel the burn of any stares and that was good, considering how many she got the entire morning, or rather first two lessons. Not even from Troy, which made her even more relieved. The bell rang after what felt like a long time to Gabriella and she immediately stood up with her books and ran to Sharpay's side.

"Someone's on the edge," Sharpay noted.

"I just…It was awkward okay?" Gabriella was frustrated.

Sharpay had already got all her things and they left the classroom with the rest of the students. "Okay, okay! Let's just see if you're lucky enough to have the same class as me again."

Gabriella looked at the schedule that was on top of all her books. "Math. You?"

"Guess we're not that fated after all. I'm going for literature that a-way," Sharpay pointed before peering over at my schedule. "Your class is to the left, walk all the way to the end then turn right and at the first corner turn left. It should be easy to find from there."

Gabriella mentally pictured the route. "Thanks. Well, see you around I guess…"

"Wait, you want to meet up for lunch later?" Sharpay offered.

"I want to…But I promised my brothers I'll eat with them today. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow…" Gabriella said while walking backwards before waving to Sharpay. She followed Sharpay's instructions and found the class in no time at all. _Thank you, Sharpay! _Gabriella mentally thanked.

Fortunately, nothing much happened in Math lesson. Gabriella wasn't even called out once during the whole lesson and the dull math teacher kept going on and on about the syllabus. The teacher was an old man with spectacles perched at the end of his nose. Some of the students had boldly slept during his lesson but he did not even notice. Gabriella could almost predict the kind of results these students got in his lessons.

Finally, after Math, it was time for lunch and free period. Thankfully, the cafeteria was not a difficult place to find since most students were headed in that direction anyway. Gabriella followed the crowed and soon, she came face to face with the cafeteria doors. Pushing the doors, she searched for her brothers.

"Hey Gabs!" a voice behind startled her. Gabriella turned around and unintentionally flipped her hair a little too much.

"Ow!" Aloysious complained, placing a hand over his cheek, "I didn't even know hair hurt that much!"

"Now you know better than to scare me like that!" Gabriella retorted.

"Aaron wanted me to come and get you," Aloysious said, rubbing her cheek, "come on, he's almost done getting our lunches."Aloysious pulled Gabriella off to an empty table to the side and sat down.

From where Gabriella was seated, she could see everyone. East High worked the way every high school does. Everything was about social status, and the ones that were on top, wanted to remain on top so those at the bottom would never manage to overtake them. It was clearly evident in the way the whole school was seated. The popular kids sat with other popular people at the popular table and the kid called George was seated beside his group of equally nerdy friends. It was just the way things worked in high school.

Just as Gabriella was deep in thought, Aaron and Nick came back with a tray full of food. They placed the food on the table and from the looks of it, the food in East High was mediocre. It wasn't five-star restaurant food worthy but it didn't look like vomit either which Gabriella was extremely grateful for. Some schools just don't have enough budget to at least get decent food for their own students. Thankfully, East High wasn't one of them.

"Lunch is served!" Aaron announced. "So, little bro", Aaron looked at Nick, "you still want your vegetables?"

"Ha ha," Nick said sarcastically, "I thought you might do that so I made sure I got a lot of meat for myself." Nick was proud of his so-called achievement, which Gabriella didn't really understand. Her brothers were just so competitive.

"Smart."Aloysious commented, eating some chips.

"Hey," Aaron called Nick, "did you know there's basketball tryout?"

"No way!" Nick exclaimed, dropping the sandwich he was about to take a bite out of.

"But it's in the middle of the year, shouldn't tryouts be at the start of the year?" Gabriella cut in. Curiosity got the best of her.

"It is," Aloysious added, stuffing some more food into his mouth. Aaron and Aloysious had the same classes, so they knew everything the other twin knew. "But this try-out isn't exactly official. We managed to talk to Tyler who said that he could arrange a try-out for us since his dad is the coach of the team. Said if we were good enough, his dad will let us be on the team," Aloysious nodded his head, as if agreeing with himself.

"Tyler? As in Tyler Bolton?" Nick asked astonished, leaning his body towards the table.

"Yes! Keep up will you?" Aaron scolded, biting the tough piece of meat that he managed to cut. "Tyler, as in team captain and the oldest of the three Bolton brothers, the brothers whose father is the coach, Jack Bolton, that Tyler!"

"No shit? When's the tryout?" Nick asked excitedly.

"This Friday," both twins replied together. Aaron continued, "Tyler told us to get ready and be prepared. Their father is strict."

"Hell yeah, we'll be ready!" Nick pumped his fist in the air.

After that, the three Montez brothers talked about their basketball strategies and stuff so Gabriella tuned out. She was drinking a packet of Milo and she was deep in her thoughts once more. For some reason she started to think about whether there actually is a way for the nerds to climb to the top while not ditching their nerd image. She thought long and hard and she felt the urge to return back to the topic when she tried to think of other things to get her mind off. It was an intriguing thing to think about.

It was only after a long time that she realized she had been staring at a pair of jeans for a long time. She noticed that that pair of jeans looked familiar for some reason. She looked up to see that that pair of jeans belonged to none other than Troy Bolton.

Well technically, all Gabriella saw was his side profile. However, looking at that sandy brown hair, it was impossible to not recognize him. He had taken off his white team jacket and put it beside him, which left him in his black shirt and jeans which in Gabriella's opinion, looked pretty good on him. He was leaning back even though there's no support behind him but that was because there was a cheerleader sitting on his lap.

Gabriella knew exactly who that cheerleader was, she probably even made that cheerleader pissed at her. Judging from the way she was giggled and her long blond hair that was tied into a high ponytail, it could only be Kayla from biology class.

Kayla was sitting sideways on Troy's lap, her back towards Gabriella, and both her arms were wrapped around Troy's neck loosely. He in return placed one hand at her waist trying to support her while the other was supporting himself on the bench. He smiled up at her and she giggled at something he said before. As Gabriella watched from her seat, she saw Kayla lean down to give Troy a kiss first on the cheek and then a long kiss on his lips. Gabriella notice that Troy did not even lean in or move from his position and it looked like he was just trying to please her. Either way, it was awkward for Gabriella to watch that scene unfold but she just couldn't turn away. It was like her eyes were glued to them.

After that, Kayla got off Troy's lap and she walked towards the cafeteria doors, where she waved goodbye to Troy. Troy returned with a smile and as soon as she was out the doors, he hung his head down, looking as if he was examining his shoes. His smile slowly faded and he looked like he was thinking hard about something. Gabriella remained watching and after awhile Troy's head lifted to look straight at her. It was a shock to Gabriella that he knew exactly where she was, or maybe it was just a coincidence, but she wasn't surprised for reasons unknown to herself. It was almost like she _expected_ it. Gabriella subconsciously took a deep breath as Troy smiled at her. Usually by now, she would have turned away or pretended she wasn't looking but something kept her staring at him, unable to tear her eyes away.

It was only a short moment later that their connection was broken.

"Gabi, you still want to eat?" Nick questioned.

Gabriella shook her head and gestured towards the food, "Help yourselves."

Gabriella watched as her three brothers all went for the food. She knew Troy was still watching. She could feel it. However, this time, she didn't look up. As soon as her brothers were done, all four siblings got up, disposed of the trays and its contents and left the cafeteria. Throughout the whole thing, Gabriella knew she was still being watched, only when she left the cafeteria did the burning in her head stop.

None of Montez siblings actually got a chance to see their lockers so all of them went in search of their lockers. Luckily, their lockers were all beside each other which made things a whole lot easier for them. They unlocked their lockers with the locker combination that they were given along with their schedule before chucking all the books that weren't needed inside.

Once again, they split up and Gabriella made it for her Physics class just in time as the bell signaling the end of free period rang. Her Physics class was not far from her lockers and this time, she learnt her lesson and asked the passing students for directions. Although it was a little embarrassing for her, it was better than being late.

As she stepped into the class, there was only one seat left. It was again at the back of the class, this time with a girl she didn't recognize. She walked to the back of the class but she couldn't help but notice that Troy was in this class too. He was sitting beside another boy whose skin tone was rather dark. Gabriella saw that there weren't as many cheerleaders in this class as other subjects before most probably because physics was a subject that required more brains. That meant less people crowding around the basketball boy Troy. Gabriella walked past him heading to the empty seat and she could almost swear that she saw Troy looking from the corner of his eyes at her.

"Hello," Gabriella greeted the girl beside the only empty seat, "I'm Gabriella Montez. May I sit here?"

"Of course," the girl replied, holding out her hand, "I'm Taylor. Taylor McKessie."Gabriella shook her hand and quickly said thank you to Taylor.

"You're new here right?" Taylor enquired. Gabriella nodded, placing her books on the table. "Just so you know, I do have friends, but most of them have different classes from me. The teacher also prefers me to sit alone because she doesn't want anyone to copy my answers."

"Why does that sound so familiar?" Gabriella thought out loud.

"You know Sharpay right? She's like, my best friend here at East High. Sometimes we influence each other even though we ourselves don't know it. She talked about you just now. You're the girl who sat with Troy Bolton in biology and made Kayla angry?"

"Yeah, not exactly proud of that though," Gabriella answered honestly. Taylor laughed and shook her head as if she couldn't believe Gabriella.

The physics teacher walked in just then, announcing her arrival with the sound of her heels against the floor. She hastily greeted everyone and immediately noticed the new addition to the class.

"Who are you?" the teacher, Ms. Helen, asked in a harsh tone. She was not one for nonsense.

"I'm Gabriella Montez. I'm new."

Ms. Helen took one long look at Gabriella that made her squirm in her seat. It didn't help when she knew that the whole class was staring yet again. Finally, Ms. Helen's eyes released its hold on Gabriella and looked through a set of papers.

"Gabriella Anne Montez?" Ms. Helen read. Gabriella nodded, but seeing as Ms. Helen was looking down at the papers, she spoke, "Yes."

Ms. Helen looked up and her eyes bore into Gabriella's. "Straight 'A's in Physics and you won first runner up in the National Physics Competition last year?"

Gabriella wanted to groan. Why did all the teachers find the need to announce everything? However, knowing she would probably get in trouble for that, she just nodded meekly.

"I'm impressed." Ms. Helen said after a moment of silence. "You can stay at your seat beside Taylor. Let's just see who ends up copying whom."

Gabriella thought that Taylor was lying when she said that Ms. Helen wanted her to seat alone because she didn't want people copying Taylor's answers. She was getting terrified of this woman.

Ms. Helen then walked briskly to her desk and took out a stack of papers and began writing on the whiteboard. Gabriella took the opportunities to talk to Taylor.

"She scares me," Gabriella confessed, "Is she always like this?"

Taylor struggled with her response. "Sometimes I guess…I mean…Occasionally she does laugh with us…But then…She does go into her mood swings at times…" Gabriella looked at the back of her physics teacher and tried to imagine Ms. Helen laughing with students or being more strict than she already is, both seemed rather impossible.

"But to answer your question, yes, she's usually more or less like this," Taylor concluded.

Ms. Helen chose that moment to turn her head. "Start copying," she ordered.

There was no more talking between me and Taylor after that. There was no talking, period. The class was silent except for the sound of pens scratching against paper. Physics lesson ended just as the bell rang and students began to file out.

"What's your next lesson?" Taylor asked as we were walking out the door.

"History, PE, then Chemistry," Gabriella read out her schedule for the rest of the day.

"Well, looks like I'll see you in PE and Chemistry then," Taylor said warmly. She started to turn away but it suddenly hit Gabriella that she didn't know where her next class was.

"Wait!" Gabriella shouted. Taylor turned with a curious expression on her face. "Do you know where the history class is?"Gabriella bit her lip as she asked.

"Down the hall, second last class on the right."

"Thanks," Gabriella mumbled and started down the hallway.

History class was surprisingly interesting. The teacher was so graphic about the subject that Gabriella could almost imagine it coming to life. The weirdest thing was, the teacher was only talking about the syllabus and not the actual content. The way he described the things they were going to learn only made Gabriella more excited for the subject itself. She could tell that most students too were interested in the subject and it felt too soon when the bell rang.

PE was boring to say the least. Since it was the first lesson of the semester, there was no actual physical activity involved. The teacher just basically split the boys and the girls and went through the rules of what to take note of during lessons like safety precautions and such.

Gabriella sat beside Sharpay and Taylor, who had geography together the period before and literature together the period before lunch. She also found out that at East High, due to a lack of PE teachers, everyone of a certain age group has PE together. That means, all freshmen go for PE together, all sophomores go for PE together and so on. That means that everyone Gabriella had met previously in her classes were all in her PE class as well.

Gabriella yawned a few times and almost fell asleep once or twice on Sharpay's shoulder. PE ended not soon enough and everyone changed out of their exercise clothes in their respective changing rooms. Finally everyone left the gym for their last class of the day.

Gabriella sat with Taylor once again for chemistry lesson. Taylor was the only person she knew in that particular class. Gabriella felt guilty in a way to Sharpay and Taylor for forcing them to sit with her almost every lesson even though they say they don't mind. Chemistry lesson passed fairly quickly and the first day of school was over before Gabriella even knew it.

Gabriella met her brothers outside school and all four walked home together. It wasn't that far of a walk. It took about fifteen to twenty minutes to walk back home from school. Throughout the walk home, Gabriella talked with her brothers about their first days at East High and laughed along when they said something funny. They observed that there was a park along the way and promised that they would go explore it together with Damon soon. To her, they were probably the best brothers anyone could ever ask for.

At the end of the day, Gabriella was dead beat. She had taken a bath as soon as she reached home and then watched her brothers begin their basketball training for the tryout that Friday. Damon joined in once he found out and they played until it was evening. At a point in time, they actually took off their shirts and Gabriella could see their muscled body in full view.

Even though it was probably disturbing to talk about her own brothers that way, she had to admit that they were good looking, if she were to look from an outsider's point of view of course. They had no lack of suitors, which was why Jo was with Damon. The twins rather not be tied down, so they have not got girlfriends, but they do make out with girls at times. They once joked that they would only date if they found hot twin girls although Gabriella is not very sure if they were serious. Nick prefers serious relationships and he had only one so far. They broke up after a couple of months and Nick has not even kissed a girl since then.

After watching the boys turn their basketball match into a game of wrestling for the ball, it quickly became darker. Their mother had already reached home and she ordered her four boys to take a shower before dinner as she did not want their sweat soiling their new furniture. They made use of their two toilets and after half an hour, everyone was ready for dinner. The Montez family ate the dinner that their mother had prepared and watched a couple of movies that Aaron and Aloysious had chosen as a family before heading for an early rest.

Gabriella was incredibly exhausted by then. Her eyelids were so heavy and she couldn't even remember the movie at all. She walked up the steps with heavy footsteps and slumped into her room. She collapsed in her bed and was knocked out as soon as her head hit her pillows.


	5. Role Play

The second day of school was not much different as compared to the first day of school in the Montez household. The twins again grumbled about having to wake up early for school, Gabriella had long gotten ready with Nick and their mother was desperately trying to fetch her children to school on time.

"Aaron Issac Montez, Aloysious Ian Montez! Move your feets!" Maria Montez commanded.

"Relax mum! We'll reach there on time!" Aaron shouted back.

True enough, they reached school with ten minutes to spare. They went to their lockers to take out the books they needed and went to their respective classes. Gabriella entered the class with five minutes to spare and sat beside Sharpay, who was busy examining her nails.

"Good morning," Gabriella greeted.

"Oh Gabriella! I want to ask you something. A bunch of us are going to play pool this Saturday. You in?" Sharpay asked expectantly.

Gabriella looked at Sharpay shocked. Sharpay had only known Gabriella for a day and she was already treating Gabriella like they were close friends. Sharpay had no idea how much that had meant to Gabriella. Opening her mouth, Gabriella replied uncertainly, "Sure but…I've never played pool before…"

"It's okay, we'll teach you, we're not exactly pros either," Sharpay reassured Gabriella, "we just play for fun."

"Okay then," Gabriella smiled.

Sharpay was about to open her mouth to speak when the noise level outside the class drastically increased. Gabriella thought that maybe something might have happened outside and wanted to check but then the whole gang of popular kids strolled in, chatting noisily. The basketball boys walked in as a group and Gabriella noticed that Chad had even brought a basketball with him. The cheerleaders followed behind them excitedly like the boys were movie stars.

"Don't you think they look like lost pups?" Sharpay commented nonchalantly.

"Don't you think that's a little mean?" Gabriella asked back.

"I'll take that as a yes," Sharpay said satisfactorily. Gabriella just shook her head in disbelief.

All the boys took their seats in the class, which were all around the same area. The cheerleaders sat nearby, some involved in their own gossips while some were still giggling and looking at the popular boys. Gabriella found it interesting to watch the popular crowd as it seemed like they were wrapped in their own world, without the rest of students there. Gabriella looked on as Chad suddenly placed a hand on Troy's chest and looked Troy straight in the eye. Since he was so loud, Gabriella could hear everything with perfect clarity.

"Dude, do you know how much effort I went through to sneak this ball out my house so that my mother won't ground me? Come on, you know how much she hates me carrying this ball. I'm practically risking my life here! All I ask in return is that you play with us during free period. Is that _really_ so hard?" Chad begged.

"You would have snuck the ball out even if you didn't want to play free period," Troy explained, "That ball is, as your mother says, your bible, and I agree."

"So what's your point?"

Troy turned to the front and groaned. He leaned his head back, covering his face with his hands. Chad did not seem to observe Troy's irritation and continued to pester him but Troy did not even bother trying to explain again. Gabriella watched the amusing sight until Ms. Darbus walked in and announced the start of homeroom.

This time, Gabriella was determined not to give Ms. Darbus any reason to dislike her anymore. She listened attentively to everything Ms. Darbus said and did not talk to anyone during the whole lesson, not even Sharpay. She turned her cell phone off and sat up straight to show that she was awake. Gabriella knew she was a goody-two-shoe that way but she could not help it. By the end of the lesson, she felt a tiny sense of accomplishment that she had not chalked up anymore bad records unlike the previous day.

After homeroom, Gabriella and Sharpay left for biology lesson together, with Sharpay updating Gabriella on the current happenings that were going on in the school. Being the new girl sure was hard. She barely had a clue about the school if not for Sharpay. Through her current best friend, Gabriella found out that basketball championships were in two weeks and the entire school is extremely excited for it, ergo the many banners. The basketball team in East High were almost unstoppable, even more so when all three Bolton brothers joined the team. The three brothers were trained since young by their father, Jack Bolton, who made sure their game was up to his high expectations. Their father was always tough on them, but it paid off in the end and now they were the most well-known set of brothers in the school and the school's heroes.

While walking to class, Gabriella too found out about some of the romances in school. The most well known relationships were again revolved around the three Bolton brothers. "They are like the sun in the East High universe," Sharpay joked. Tyler, the oldest of the three brothers and captain of the basketball team, was in an open relationship with Britney, head cheerleader in the school, a typical high school couple. Tyson was with Mikayla, who was not a cheerleader but was close to some of the other cheerleaders. Troy was unofficially with Kayla since he had not passed his family ring on to her yet.

Britney and Mikayla both had the Bolton ring that the boys' parents had specially made for the boys. It was a way for the Bolton brothers to tell their parents that they were attached, since their parents knew that the three brothers would probably find it hard to tell them when they actually _do_ get girlfriends and this way was much simpler and not as awkward. Once their parents see them not wearing their rings, it means that they have a girlfriend and their parents would wait for an opportunity to ask them about it or wait for them to tell their parents themselves. Gabriella felt that it was a rather ingenious idea, considering how her own mother had reacted when she found out Damon and Jo were dating, and Nick and his past girlfriend as well.

Gabriella changed the topic soon after and began asking Sharpay about the different clubs in school. She found out that other than the obvious sports, there were many other different clubs in East High like the Drama Club which Sharpay is in and Ms. Darbus is the teacher in-charge. _No wonder Sharpay said she could handle Ms. Darbus the day before_, Gabriella mused. Taylor was in the scholastic decathlon and math club which apparently won many awards, but the school was barely even concerned about them with all the big hype on sports. Gabriella continued listening intently to Sharpay, who was listing out the different clubs. Gabriella was considering a few of the clubs herself. She hasn't decided yet though. She did not want to rush and make a hasty decision which she would regret. She will most definitely think it through before she settles on a club she really likes.

Gabriella and Sharpay had reached the classroom and by then, Sharpay was completely engrossed in her detailed description of the latest play the Drama club was putting up. Seeing as Chad was sitting in Gabriella's seat beside Troy, Gabriella sat down beside Sharpay in her old seat, listening to Sharpay talk on and on about "Twinkle Town".

Mr. Gabriel walked in the classroom but Sharpay was barely finished. Gabriella promised to let Sharpay finish during lunch which Gabriella will be spending with Sharpay and Taylor since her brothers wanted to practice for tryouts again. Gabriella got off her seat to the back of the class where Chad reluctantly moved forward. Gabriella took her seat just as Mr. Gabriel greeted the class.

"Good morning class!" Mr. Gabriel put his hands on his waist. "As I said yesterday, we are going to continue with what we left off last semester. If I'm not wrong we were about to start on sexual reproduction. Am I right?"

There were a few murmurs in the class and it was not much of a surprise that people are getting excited over that topic. It happened in her old school when she was taught the chapter and for the next few days, the boys in the class became even more disgusting than usual. Gabriella remembered getting grossed out by one of the boys when he asked her casually when she was about to ovulate. To Gabriella, no guy should ever know that kind of stuff.

Gabriella did not want to go through this lesson once again as it was probably one of the most repulsive topics in biology. People think that sexual reproduction just means sex, but there are a lot of things that is covered in that topic that can gross a person out badly, like talking about sexually-transmitted diseases for one. Gabriella had already had that talk with her mother, even if her old school didn't teach it, so she really did not need to listen to it for the third time.

"First," Mr. Gabriel clapped his hands together, "we are going to do a pre-lesson activity," Mr. Gabriel stated to the whole class before his eyes looked to the person beside me. "Troy, you are the most popular guy in school right? The "golden boy" of East High?"

"I wouldn't-" Troy started.

"Hell yeah!" Chad interrupted, earning a look from Troy that wanted him to quit it but Chad was facing the front and did not even see it.

"So you can get most girls you want right?" Mr. Gabriel pressed on.

"Not-" Troy was again cut off by his best friend Chad.

"Of course," Chad proudly declared, "he doesn't even need to get them. They throw themselves at him!"

"Chad!" Troy shouted, clearly showing his irritation.

"What? Just stating facts…" Chad defended, holding both his hands up in the air.

Mr. Gabriel ignored them. "Okay, now I need a female volunteer." As soon as Mr. Gabriel said female, all the girls in the class raised their hand fully, all except Gabriella that is.

Mr. Gabriel scanned the room, looking at all the raised hands, but he did not find what he wanted. Then, he noticed that Gabriella was the only girl not wanting to participate and his eyes twinkled in anticipation.

"Gabriella, how about you?" Mr. Gabriel singled her out. Immediately, all head turned to face her. Some were curious while some were just plain unfriendly, especially from the cheerleaders.

"I didn't even raise my hand," Gabriella stated, giving an awkward smile.

"That's the best part!" Mr. Gabriel smiled. Looking at Gabriella's unsure expression, Mr. Gabriel walked towards her and Troy.

"Okay, what I want is to do a little role-play. For fun, of course." Mr. Gabriel paused, letting the information sink in.

"You see, before sexual reproduction can occur, the male and the female need attraction," Mr. Gabriel pointed to Troy and Gabriella. "So Troy, today I want to test you on your skills. Gabriella, since you _are_ the only one that didn't raise your hand when I asked for volunteers to work with Troy, you will play the part of a girl that is not very interested in Troy and tries her best to refuse him. Troy, you will be showing off your talents so to speak by trying to ask out this unwilling girl that you like," Mr. Gabriel gestured to Gabriella.

Listening to Mr. Gabriel's explanation, the whole class began talking among themselves. Some were leaning forward to get a better look of the upcoming show while some just gritted their teeth and sent death glares towards Gabriella. Gabriella looked at Sharpay for some form of assistance, but she only offered a smile.

Mr. Gabriel waited for the noise to die down. "Now that all of you get what we're about to do, we'll give Troy and Gabriella a few seconds to get ready," Mr. Gabriel paused for a while, "and three, two, one action!"

The whole class was silent as they watched in anticipation the show that was about to be played. Gabriella turned her head away from Troy, partly to get into her character, and also to hide her face from him. He did not need to see how stupid she looked at that moment.

"Hey," Troy said softly, placing a hand on Gabriella's knee that was unseen by their audience.

Gabriella ignored him and continued to hide her face behind her hair, telling herself not to look at him. She really did not want to look like a fool in front of the entire class and get mocked for the rest of her high school life.

"Hey," Troy tried again, and seeing that she wasn't about to respond, he continued, "you know it's not very polite to _not_ look at a person while he's speaking to you?" Troy knew that Gabriella was the kind that cared a lot about how people saw her from what he had observed yesterday. His hypothesis was confirmed when Gabriella turned her body towards him a little.

Troy lifted Gabriella's chin so that he could see her properly and to make sure she was looking straight into his eyes. He stared into her warm brown eyes for a moment. Squeezing her knee, he spoke in a soft whisper, "You look really pretty you know that?"

Gabriella, looking at Troy's serious face, could not tell if he really meant that compliment. She looked into both his eyes, hoping to find answers, but she just could not be sure. She opened her mouth once, wanting to ask him the question that was eating her up inside, but closed it as soon as she remembered they were in a role play and were supposed to stay in their characters.

Seeing Gabriella's bewildered expression, Troy smiled. _She does look pretty cute which she's confused_, Troy thought. However, as soon as she saw him smiling, she jerked his chin away from his hand and returned to her first position, looking away from him with her hair covering her face.

_She's defensive_, Troy noted. He thought awhile and waited before trying again. He slowly extended the hand that was not on her knee towards her. He slowly waited for her respond, evaluating her every move. He knew he had to be extremely careful with her.

Gabriella saw a hand moving in front of her cautiously. The hand then slowly moved such that it tucked her hair behind her ear. She had full view of Troy's muscled arm and she couldn't deny that it looked strong. The hand then gently pushed her cheek towards its owner's face and Gabriella was once again looking into Troy's blue eyes.

Gabriella again felt the pull of his eyes. She felt like she was about to sink in them or get sucked into them. It was the only thing that she could see at that time and she felt like she was being immersed in it. She could not stop looking, especially with the way he blinked. His eyelids moved slowly down to cover his eyes before taking their time to reveal his eyes, which to Gabriella, only enhanced the beauty of his eyes.

"Care to join me for lunch later Gabriella?" Troy mumbled, knowing that Gabriella could hear him.

Gabriella, as if realizing what is going on, jerked back in her chair sharply, looking in astonishment at the boy whose eyes had captivated her.

"No," Gabriella replied flatly, wanting nothing more than to leave or end this conversation.

"Why?" Troy asked in a low voice. Leaning forward so that he was looking up at her he said, "Scared?"

"No," Gabriella said, frustrated. She looked away from Troy, frowning at nothing in particular.

Troy leaned forward even more and tilted his head to see Gabriella's expression. "Definitely scared," he said, amused.

Gabriella felt a flare of anger at what Troy said. She was _not_ scared of him. He was a jock, so what? Did that mean he can do whatever he want and say whatever he wants? How can he just assume she is some weak girl that doesn't even dare go out with him alone?

Gabriella looked up at the boy who was examining her every reaction. She stared at Troy straight in the eye and shot back, "I'm not scared of you, Troy Bolton. Get that straight."

"Then why won't you come to lunch with me?" Troy enquired with an innocent look on his face.

Gabriella didn't know what to reply. She tried thinking of reasons but her brain chose that moment to stop functioning. She knew she probably looked like an idiot then.

"I-" Gabriella tried, "I- because…" Gabriella could not finish any of her sentences which made Troy smile.

Troy looked down at his hand on her knee for a while before talking. "So if you aren't scared of me and there isn't a reason why you can't have lunch with me…" Troy looked up into Gabriella's eyes, "I guess, we'll be having lunch together later?"

Gabriella couldn't respond. Her eyes are once again fixated on his and she couldn't even utter a word out of her mouth. She just kept looking at his eyes, wishing that she had the whole day to look into those pair of eyes that made her feel so at peace and on the edge at the same time. She inhaled deeply for a few seconds, a subconscious reaction to Troy being so near her.

Troy saw her chest heave up and down. He saw the way she looked at him. He saw her reactions to his words. Troy knew that he was having an effect on the brunette and he liked it more than he should. He could not help but smile, watching Gabriella's every move. He would notice the way she fidgeted and the way she bit her bottom lip every time she started to get nervous. He was intrigued and fascinated to say the least by the girl in front of him.

"I'm just going to take that as a yes," Troy breathed.

Gabriella could feel his hot breath on her face and she enjoyed it even though she knew she shouldn't. Her eyelids wanted to close _so_ badly, probably so that her other senses would be heightened and she could really enjoy him fully. However, she knew she couldn't. She had to keep her eyes open so that she wouldn't get lost in him and lose all her senses in the heat of the moment, though she felt that it might already be happening.

Troy saw Gabriella's eyes droop down just a little. He could see her trying to fight it, but he did not want her to resist him. Troy tilted his head and leaned in further towards Gabriella. He slowly closed his eyes and saw Gabriella do the same just before his own was fully shut. He could smell Gabriella's aromatic scent even more strongly than before when his eyes were open, which only drew him closer so that he could feel the skin of Gabriella's cheek on his lips.

"And scene!"


	6. Tryouts

Troy's lips had just made contact with Gabriella's cheek when the biology teacher concluded their intense role-playing session. However, that did not stop Troy from pressing his lips firmly on her cheeks, causing her breath to hitch. It was an honest and sweet moment for the two, Troy just enjoying the feel of her bare, makeup-free, natural skin, and Gabriella feeling safe and protected just by that simple heartfelt kiss in a way that was different from how her brothers made her feel. Neither Troy nor Gabriella had felt so contented before and both of them savored that affectionate moment. It was so comfortable and natural that it was like a wake-up call when they finally broke apart.

In all truth, it took a good deal of willpower before Troy was able to pull away. Even then, his face lingered less than an inch away from hers and he took in one last whiff of Gabriella's scent before finally returning Gabriella her personal space. He looked at her and could not help but smile at the fact that her eyes were still closed and her breathing had not returned to normal just yet.

Gabriella, on the other hand, could barely register anything that was going on. Her emotions and desires were running wild and she felt so animalistic that she wanted to just let go and tend to her out-of-control needs. It was no wonder she felt lost when her eyes opened after a few moments to see that Troy was no longer leaning towards her, but seated back in his seat, facing the biology teacher with a grin on his face. It took her a moment before she realized that she was in class and that she probably humiliated herself in front of not only Troy, but Mr. Gabriel and the whole class as well. She was sure that this little incident would spread like wildfire in East High and soon the whole school would know her as the girl who fell under Troy Bolton's spell like a love struck fool. She wanted nothing more than to run out of the class to the girl's toilet to give herself a tight slap for even giving in to his charms.

Furthermore, looking at Troy's smug grin only made her more infuriated. Was it all just a game to him? How can he just act so casual after what went on? Or was it just Gabriella herself who had felt that intense chemistry between them?

However, Troy, who was facing the board in front, did not notice Gabriella frowning at him from the side and continued to think about how he had managed to make Gabriella lower her guard for him. To say he felt victorious was almost correct. It was a special feeling that made him feel somewhat honored to be the one that Gabriella felt comfortable with.

"Well, that was an entertaining show," Mr. Gabriel commented with a broad smile, bringing the attention of the entire class back to the lesson and forcing Gabriella to pry her eyes away from the boy who made her so mad. "Good job Troy, you really do have the gift."

"Thank you, sir."

"Okay, now back to the lesson!" Mr. Gabriel ordered, but no one bothered about him. Everyone was still looking in Troy and Gabriella's direction, mumbling among themselves. Gabriella felt the heat rise up her cheeks and struggled to hide her face from all the looks she was given. Most people were just curious and were just looking at her expectantly, as if hoping for something to happen. Others were less innocent.

Gabriella sunk into her chair and buried her face in her arms that were tensed up on the table. At that moment, the biology lesson that Mr. Gabriel was conducting was the least of her concerns. As Mr. Gabriel continued talking and writing notes on the board, Gabriella closed her eyes with her face flat down the tabletop and took deep breaths to calm herself. Unknown to her, Troy was looking at her with a smile that he was unable to hold back.

Sharpay and Chad, who were seated in front of the pair and had the best view of the entire show, stared shocked at their best friends. They had no idea what to think and they were both thinking of ways to ask them what had just happened but at the same time, not upset either of them. Then, at the same time, both Sharpay and Chad turned to each other with incredulous looks on their faces before turning back for one last look at their best friends. Slowly and uncertainly, they faced the front supposedly to listen to the lesson, but both had their minds on something else. It was one of those rare moments where they were speechless.

The lesson dragged on for Gabriella and the ringing of the bell was a life-saver. She quickly got off her seat and pulled Sharpay out of the class before Sharpay was even done packing. Watching that particular sight was Troy, who was unsure of what to think of Gabriella's actions. Outside the biology classroom where students were streaming out of the respective classes, Gabriella turned to face Sharpay anxiously.

"It was bad wasn't it?" Gabriella panicked.

"Define 'bad'…" Sharpay asked tentatively.

"Oh God! I just embarrassed myself in front of the whole class!" Gabriella exclaimed angrily. "How long does it take for things like this to spread?"

"Well, if this was under normal circumstances…" Sharpay replied slowly, unsure how to break the news, "I would say a week but-"

"But?" Gabriella asked hopefully.

"Since it concerns Troy, I give it till lunch, tops."

"Great," Gabriella replied sarcastically, closing her eyes.

"Hey, it'll be fine, I promise," Sharpay patted Gabriella's shoulders, "we'll meet you at lunch okay?"

Gabriella just nodded numbly before leaving Sharpay to get to her next class while Gabriella made her way to her next class. As soon as she stepped into the class, the entire room was engulfed in silence as everyone stared at her. She paused at the doorstep for a moment and realizing that nothing was going to happen while she stood there foolishly, she walked to her seat. Still, no one talked and the only sound was the sound of Gabriella's footsteps on the floor. Gabriella slipped into her seat as silently as she could, almost afraid to break the silence. People started whispering and soon, the room was once again filled with noisy chatter.

Gabriella was unable to concentrate on anything throughout the entire lesson. She was still distracted by her little show back in biology lesson and she was beyond humiliated. She really was too weak. Either that or she really underestimated Troy's abilities. However, she vowed to herself that the next time, she would not succumb to the popular basketball boy, if there even was a next time.

There was also another thing that had gotten Gabriella baffled. Did Troy really mean it when he said he wanted to have lunch with her? It seemed real enough but Gabriella just could not be sure. After all, he was just _acting_. He could have proposed to her for all she cared and it would still be nothing more than an act.

Suppose Gabriella really met him for lunch and looked him up at his seat at the popular table. There were several possibilities but in general, most ended in her being laughed at by the popular crowd and possibly even the entire school. Gabriella shook her head, not even wanting to entertain the thought. Then again, she could just _not_ meet him. It seemed like the easier and safer choice but she knew that Troy would probably be seen as rejected by her if she did not turn up after she sort of accepted his offer. Then, Troy would be humiliated and she would be seen as egotistic for not saving a little bit of face for one of the top three most popular boys in East High. Either way, she was doomed to be the center of attraction that she so desperately wanted to avoid, and Troy is to be blamed.

Meanwhile, Troy too was unable to focus on his own lesson. His mind kept wandering to that few minutes with Gabriella. Yes, they were only a few minutes long but that was all it took for him to feel something stirring within him. He never felt so whole before, and it was amazing. He never thought he would ever feel this way, neither did he expect like it that much, but he did. Not that he would let anyone know that, not even Chad, because they would give him a good lecture on how incredibly stupid and sickeningly smitten he was.

The bell signaling lunch rang. Gabriella's train of thoughts was broken and she robotically stood up with all her books. She sighed, unsure of how to handle her "Troy" situation. Things would be that much easier if _biology_ had not happened.

Walking out of the classroom, she was met with Sharpay and Taylor who were leaning on the wall beside the door. They were both chatting animatedly when they noticed Gabriella.

"Gabriella! We're going to the library. Taylor needs to do some research on some paper," Sharpay rolled her eyes, not being a fan of the library. "You in? Or would you rather spend lunch with _Troy_?"Sharpay added with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Honestly, the library sounds pretty good to me right now," Gabriella smiled, glad that she had an excuse to skip going to the cafeteria. Somehow, having an excuse to back up her actions made her feel less guilty, to herself and Troy.

"You," Sharpay accused, "are the only girl that will _ever_ say that."

"So I'm special," Gabriella said with a shrug.

"Even more so to Troy," Taylor pretended to swoon with a hand over her chest. Obviously she had already been updated by Sharpay.

"Shut up…"

The threesome made their way to the library afterwards, with Sharpay and Taylor trying to pry information from the unwilling Gabriella. Sharpay and Taylor were determined to force Gabriella to divulge every single detail but Gabriella remained tight-lipped. After a few unsuccessful tries, Sharpay and Taylor decided to give Gabriella a break and just talked about the whole incident in general. By then, they had already found seats in the library for Taylor to do her work.

"It's not that bad Gabriella," Sharpay tried to convince Gabriella, "I mean, so many other girls would kill to be you right then."

"Yeah and Troy's a really good guy, I'm pretty sure you can trust him…"Taylor added before flipping open her book.

"Well, maybe he was just acting. Have you guys ever thought of that? I mean we were role-playing," Gabriella retorted.

"Gabriella," Sharpay placed a hand on Gabriella's arm, "I didn't want to tell you this but honestly, just now when I was watching you two and your 'show', it _was_ kind of intense and as much as I hate to admit it, it was a little hot the way you two stared each other. I mean, it's like I could almost feel the electricity and I felt like such a third wheel sitting there watching you two but at the same time I just can't look away. It's…magnetic the way you guys act around each other."

"You're lying," scoffed Gabriella.

"No, I'm not. I'm calling it as I see it. I've never seen Troy so…interested in another girl before. I mean he's always had that whole laid back attitude thing and this is the first time I'm seeing him caring a little bit."

"You can't know that," Gabriella answered shakily.

"I saw him trying to make an effort to interact with you. Since freshmen year, I've never seen him even trying to get a girl before, because, as you've already seen, all the girls flock around him and he doesn't even need to bother trying to make conversation with a girl."

"But don't you see? It's because I don't try to flirt with him, that's why he's 'trying to make conversation' with me," Gabriella air quoted, echoing Sharpay's words. "If I were any other girl that falls all over him, he probably won't be interested at all!"

Exasperated, Sharpay asked Taylor for assistance. "Taylor! Help me here!"

Taylor looked up from her book that she was researching on and looking at Gabriella straight in the eye, she said, "Gabriella, I think what Sharpay is saying is that Troy can have any girl he wants. He doesn't actually need to care about you. You could be non-existent for all he cared. But the fact that he is trying to talk to you shows that he wants you, not anybody else."

Gabriella, although unwilling to admit it, knew that there was a high possibility that they were right. "So basically, what you are saying is that Troy does indeed…like me?"

"And that you probably disappointed him for not going to lunch with him," Sharpay pointed out.

Gabriella sighed. "So am I supposed to go meet him now?"

"It's too late and anyway, I don't think he will give up on you just yet," Sharpay guessed. "From the look in his eyes, it isn't all that hard to see how determined he was."

"This topic is getting old, can we _please_ talk about something else?" Gabriella begged.

Sharpay rolled her eyes in disbelief. "You know Taylor, I _actually_ think she will end up as a Troy minion."

"I think so too. I heard some girls started out not liking Troy but after some time, they grew to like him and are now just as fanatic as every other girl in this school," Taylor agreed.

Gabriella scoffed and turned away. Her? Screaming over Troy? She has never screamed over a boy before and she did not plan to do it anytime soon. The thought was so impossible, it was almost laughable. Almost.

"Okay, new topic!" Sharpay smiled. "Do you guys want to do anything before or after pool this Saturday? I have _loads_ of time to kill."

"When and where are we playing?" Gabriella questioned.

This time, Taylor was the one to reply. "Most probably evening and I don't think you know the place really."

"Then how am I supposed to get there?" Gabriella asked, puzzled.

"We always go together so we can show you the way," Taylor answered.

"Okay, where do we meet?"

"How about you give us your address and we'll meet at your place between four to five, is that okay?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Taylor did not speak anymore after that as she concentrated on her work. As promised, Gabriella allowed Sharpay to finish talking about "Twinkle Town". It was almost exhausting trying to digest what Sharpay was trying to describe and it came to a point when Gabriella stopped listening altogether and was just nodding her head. Sharpay did not notice though, fortunately for Gabriella.

It was five minutes to the end of free period when Sharpay finally concluded her story. By then, Taylor had already finished her research and was looking through books in the shelves but Gabriella suspected that she was really trying to get away from listening to the extremely detailed description of Sharpay's fabulous play. Taylor returned soon after and she and Gabriella walked to class together and left Sharpay to get to hers.

Talking to Taylor made Gabriella feel somewhat normal. Taylor was like her in a way yet still different. She was smart, that was for sure. Gabriella could consider her as a potential rival. Gabriella found it easy to talk to Taylor since they had so much in common and had many common topics but most revolved around school work. To others it may seem boring but to Gabriella, it was fine talking about anything academic related. It was, to say the least, important to the both of them.

Gabriella and Taylor walked into the classroom and Gabriella immediately noticed a head of sandy brown hair turn around and she was faced with Troy's handsome features yet again. He was looking at her with a blank expression and revealed nothing about her no-show in the cafeteria. _Maybe he really didn't mean it when he said he wanted to have lunch with me_, Gabriella thought. She knew she should be glad about that, but she just could not ignore the little voice inside her head that told her she actually _wanted_ to go and she probably had just blown her chance with Troy. Ignoring her conflicting emotions, Gabriella strode into the room with Taylor at her side, once again ignoring all the comments made by the other students.

Physics ended quickly and she was once again without anyone to talk to for an entire period. That was why she could not help leaping out of her seat when the bell rang, which meant it was time for their PE lesson. The gossip and rumors about their little biology lesson incident were in full swing by that time but Gabriella did her best to not be bothered by them. She met up with Taylor and Sharpay in the changing rooms, got dressed and waited for the teachers to give instructions.

"Usually at about this time of the year, the PE teachers allow us to do whatever we want because most of them want to train their own teams for their championship games," Taylor explained, "like Coach Bolton over there."

Gabriella looked in the direction in which Taylor was pointing and saw Troy, Chad, the boy Troy was sitting next to in Physics, and a whole bunch of other sophomore boys surrounding a man with a tall build and is wearing the classic gym teacher and coach uniform, a short and shorts. He was holding a clipboard in his hands giving firm and serious instructions to the boys who broke up after awhile and jogged over to the court. _So that's Troy's father_.

"We could sit here and watch them play and no one would care," Sharpay said enthusiastically.

Gabriella's eyes wandered around the gym, taking in the bleachers that were filled with so many sophomore girls with all eyes on a certain blue-eyed boy.

"Teams!" Coach Bolton deep voice echoed from all four walls of the gym. "Shirts! Chad! Zeke!"

Both Chad and the boy that was sitting beside Troy in Physics slapped hands, while Gabriella mentally noted his name down.

"Lenny! Fred! Simon!"

All the boys that Coach Bolton had called out gathered at one side of the court. Coach Bolton then turned to the rest whose names were not called. "The rest of you are skins! Now move!" Coach Bolton gave an ear-piercing blow of his whistle.

Gabriella noticed a gradual increase in the volume of the girls who were seated on the bleachers after Coach Bolton revealed the teams. There were all whispering but somehow it still seemed loud to Gabriella. She did not understand why they were all suddenly so excited about a game of basketball. Maybe the fact that she had been watching basketball practically her entire life made her immune but still, she did not see why these girls were getting so crazy over it.

"What's going on?" Gabriella asked confused.

Sharpay's answer was simple and it said everything. "Troy's skin, he's taking off his shirt."

Sharpay was right. As Gabriella turned to face the court, she saw Troy tugging his shirt off revealing his toned body. There was a collective sigh from all the girls who were watching and after Troy had dumped his shirt on one of the bleachers, he turned around to look at them. It appeared as though Troy did not even notice all the girls watching him before with the surprised look on his face but it soon turned into a grin that a few girls could not help but giggle at.

Meanwhile, Gabriella's eyes had not even been able to leave Troy's body after his shirt was off. She had seen her brothers' bodies before and although they were something to stare at, Troy's was even better. His chest was well-defined and on his abs she could see lines that revealed his six packs. His body was tanned and fit, yet managing to stay lean at the same time. She was sure his body was tough and strong and she could not help but wonder how she would feel if he had held her in his arms with his bare chest. She was attracted to him at that moment, no doubt about that.

"Looks like someone is admiring _Troy_…" Sharpay said, snapping Gabriella out of her reverie.

"So not," Gabriella argued.

"Uh huh, sure…" Taylor said not believing a word.

"Whatever," Gabriella said and turning her head back to the court and saw that Troy had noticed her. She looked back, unsure of what to do before he was hurriedly called back to the court by his father where he hesitantly release his stare on Gabriella and returned to the court. Gabriella felt a sense of relief wash over her.

Throughout PE, Gabriella watched as Coach Bolton gave orders to the boys to help them improve on their game. However, Gabriella could not help but notice that Coach Bolton was extremely harsh on Troy and would nitpick on every mistake he committed, even the most minor ones. Still, Troy never complained and continued with his A-game, correcting the mistakes his father berated him about.

While watching the game, Gabriella's eyes were mostly trained on Troy. Watching him move effortlessly up and down the court and knowing exactly where to go at any point of time, it was clear that the basketball court was his element. He would always appear out of nowhere to steal the ball, race across the court while dribbling the ball, and make the perfect shot, often met with loud claps from his own fan base. It was so graceful the way he moved and it was so astounding that Gabriella did not even care about anyone else on the court. He was the star and the one that the spotlight is on.

It seemed only minutes after that PE was over. By then, all the boys looked as though they just bathed with the amount of sweat on their bodies, Troy in particular. The sweat made their skin glisten and emphasized on the fact that all of them were breathing deeply with the way their chests moved up and down, replenishing their oxygen dept.

While the boys were busy resting, the girls sitting on the bleachers were chased out of the gym, and most left reluctantly. Changing out of their uniform, Gabriella, Sharpay and Taylor left the changing rooms for their next class, with Gabriella's mind still on Troy. He knew how to look good, Gabriella gave him that. However, for the rest of the day, Gabriella did not meet him.

The following day, after the whole biology fiasco, Gabriella did not talk to Troy. She did not know what to say, neither did she know how to react and she could not just pretend nothing happened either, talking to him like how she would normally talk to others. She was at a total lost at how to deal with Troy and she avoided eye-contact with him during lessons for the whole day.

Troy too did not take the initiative to talk to Gabriella, to which she felt mostly relieved but also a slight disappointment. He did not look at her once and pretended that she was not there. It went on for the entire time and though it was awkward, no one said anything. Gabriella started to wonder if Troy was upset about the cafeteria date thing and was giving her the silent treatment of sorts. If he was, Gabriella honestly thought he was being petty, but somehow Gabriella felt that that was not the case.

Gabriella went to the cafeteria with Taylor and Sharpay during lunchtime since her brothers were practicing basketball again for the tryout that day. She sat with them at their usual table with a girl called Kelsi. She was apparently part of their clique but she was very quiet, especially when Gabriella was around.

"Kayla's on Troy's lap again," Taylor commented apathetically.

"Yawn," Sharpay rolled her eyes.

Gabriella turned to see that Kayla was indeed on Troy's lap again and her lips were on Troy's. Her hands were looped around Troy's neck and she was kissing him as though she had not seen him for years. Their kiss was long and heated and Gabriella turned away to give them some sort of privacy, though she was sure Kayla kissed Troy for the attention.

"Seriously, she hadn't been able to get Troy for so long, she should just give up!" Sharpay exclaimed. "Isn't that right, Gabriella?"

"Hey, I barely know anything in this school, don't ask me," Gabriella lifted both her hands in the air as though she was surrendering, and effectively shifted the focus off her. She barely concentrated on anything they said after that. She picked at her food but did not eat much. She knew she was distracted but she did not know what she was distracted by exactly. She just could not focus on anything.

This went on for the whole day. She could not think. She was glad that she was not called out to answer any questions as she would not be able to. Even after school, when she tried to go to the library where she could think best, she felt confused. After a few hours of fruitless flipping through books, Gabriella finally gave up and went to the gym to wait for her brothers who were having their tryouts right then.

Entering the gym, she saw many boys playing basketball on the court. Coach Bolton stood at the sidelines watching with a serious look on his face though he occasionally smiled when one of his players did a good move. Shifting her attention to the bleachers, Gabriella walked up the steps to one of the top-most seat to wait for her brothers. Normally, she would take out a book to read but knowing it will not be of any use since she was just so out-of-it today, she just looked at the game on the court with a bored expression on her face, trying to locate her brothers amidst the many half-naked boys, all chasing after an orange ball.

She finally found them and watched as they played with some of the other boys on the team. They managed to snatch the ball several times and made quite a few three-pointers. It was obvious that Coach Bolton liked what he saw and was rather impressed by their skills. Gabriella could not help but smile. Her brothers were _so_ on the team.

Gabriella was so engrossed in the game that she did not even notice that someone else was staring at her for quite a while. After seeing that Gabriella was not even paying attention to anything other than the game, he slowly made his way up the steps but still Gabriella had her eyes on the court. It was only until he took a seat beside Gabriella that she finally noticed the blue-eyed boy's presence.

"Hey," Troy greeted with a friendly smile, "what are you doing here?"

He was wearing his wildcat practice uniform like the others, just that he had his top half of the uniform on, unlike the others who were baring their chests. It was evident that he had played just by looking at the sweat on his body. A smell came off from him but it was not as bad as the stench that most boys had after they worked out. Gabriella found that smell rather tolerable. His elbows rested on his knees and his arms hung between his legs. For unknown reasons even to herself, Gabriella eyes darted to the Bolton ring that circled the ring finger on his left hand.

"Um…my brothers," Gabriella answered vaguely after a moment.

"Oh right…that fits," Troy said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Gabriella questioned quizzically.

"I mean…like… all of you are new in East High, and all your last names are Montez. I guess I just didn't…piece it together until you said it," Troy explained with a shrug.

Uncertain of what to reply, Gabriella responded with an "Oh." There was an awkward moment of silence for several heartbeats as they both watched the ongoing game.

"Well, they are pretty good. My dad looks pleased. That doesn't happen often," Troy noted.

"Well they should. The twins are captains at our old school," Gabriella said as a matter of fact, her eyes remained on the game.

"Wow. Really?" Troy mused, looking at Gabriella. "I think they'll be great for our basketball team, that's for sure."

"It's all they can talk about."

Again, there was another bout of silence as both parties watched the game, both extremely aware of each other's presence, yet not wanting the other to know. Coach Bolton gave a blow of his whistle and all the boys on the court gave one another fist bumps, including her brothers, before walking to the benches to drink from their water bottle or just to rest. All of them looked exhausted after the long workout and some were bent over gasping for breath.

"That's it for practice today! Everyone hit the showers!" Coach Bolton announced. "And as for Aaron, Aloysious and Nicholas, I will tell you if you made the team within the next few days." With that, Coach Bolton left, heading towards his office with a clipboard in his hands.

After the post-game exhilaration that Gabriella's brothers usually got, they began to pick up their bags that were placed on the bleachers. That was when all three of her brothers finally noticed Gabriella seating on the stands. Furthermore, they saw Troy seated beside her and truthfully, they did not look very pleased.

"Your brothers don't seem very happy," Troy voiced out his thoughts.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Gabriella quickly stood up and grabbed her bag. She knew her brothers did not like the idea of other boys hitting on her. She looked down at Troy who was still seated and opened her mouth to reply. "Look Troy, I have to go, I'm sorry."

With that Gabriella walked down the steps, leaving Troy staring after her.


	7. Pool

Gabriella did not have a good walk home.

"Gabriella," Aaron used her full name, a sure sign that he was being serious, "who was that guy?"

"No one," Gabriella defended herself, "just my seat partner in biology." Technically, she did not lie. She just did not tell the whole truth, which she felt that she could still sleep at night.

"Don't lie to us Gabriella," Aloysious snapped impatiently at his little sister. "That was Troy Bolton. We played with him just now during tryouts. We know who he is."

"Okay fine, his name is Troy. Big deal."

"It doesn't matter what his first name is," Aloysious answered, clearly annoyed.

Aaron then pointed out what his twin had not made clear, "What matters is his last name. He's a Bolton, Gabriella."

"So?" Gabriella asked, clearly frustrated at the big fuss her brothers were making.

"So," Nick continued, "he's the top dog in this school. He's on the basketball team and you can bet your ass he's going to be captain by senior year once his brothers graduate."

"Again. So what?" Gabriella repeated her previous question.

"God Gabriella!" Aaron exclaimed, not understanding how his sister can be so smart yet so dumb. "Do we have to spell it out for you? Basketball players are players. And I don't mean on the court. They break innocent little girls' hearts, especially the captains who rule the damn school!"

"So you think I'm that little innocent girl whose heart is going to get broken by a captain of a basketball team?" Gabriella questioned, not believing her ears. She, of course, already knew what her brothers were trying to get at before. She did not need them to explain what they meant by their words but she wanted them to hear for themselves how silly they were being. Obviously, it did not work.

In response to her question, both Aaron and Aloysious raised their eyebrows in a silent "duh" while Nick just nodded his head.

"Please," Gabriella scoffed, "I'm not some gullible girl that falls for some boy just because he's pretending to be interested." An image of Troy role-playing in biology instantly formed in her mind but she hastily pushed it aside before talking again. "Besides, you guys were captains at our old school, you guys didn't exactly cause every girl to wallow in a pit of despair," Gabriella addressed the twins specifically.

"That may be what it seems like to you, but we know things you don't. You see us having fun and making out with all kinds of girls but you don't see what happens when they get dumped. Trust us, it gets ugly. We don't mean to hurt anyone but it's inevitable when you're the most popular in school," Aloysious explained.

"So you know what you are doing to those girls yet it's completely okay for you to do it? And you are criticizing other people who are doing it?" Gabriella challenged.

"We aren't criticizing anyone for doing it!"Aaron yelled. "Troy can do whatever he wants, as long as he keeps himself off of you."

"So why are you yelling at me about it? This isn't my problem! This is a boys' problem! What's it got to do with me!"

"That isn't the point!" Nick shouted.

"Then what is?" Gabriella raised her voice.

"The point is that you can't get hurt. Any other girl can. We don't care. But when it comes to you, it becomes personal," Aaron threatened.

"So you better do your part and stay away from boys that have even the slightest chance of hurting you," Aloysious finished.

Gabriella had just about enough of it and luckily for her, they were already at their house. Walking up to the front porch of her house, she took out her keys and unlocked the door before shouting into the house, "This is ridiculous!"

Damon appeared from the kitchen with a can of coke in his hands. He had heard the sound of the door opening and went out to find his siblings quarreling. Upon hearing Gabriella's irritation, he asked curiously, "What's ridiculous?"

"A guy tried to hit on Gabi," Aaron gave a sarcastic smile, "not just any guy _no_…it's the captain of the basketball team."

"He's not captain," Gabriella tried unsuccessfully.

"Yet," Aloysious added, "but he might as well be."

"Woah woah woah," Damon held his hand up to stop his sibling's bickering, "what are you talking about?"

"I'm not listening to this! I'm going back to my room," Gabriella stormed up to her room.

Locking the door, she sat down in front of her desk and switched her laptop on. While waiting for it to load, she leaned her head onto the support of the chair with her eyes closed. She could hear her brothers' furious discussions below but she honestly felt that they were over-reacting. She understood what her brothers were saying, she understood their concerns but it still seemed silly. Her brothers' main priority was to protect her, it was as simple as that. It did not matter to them that Gabriella was not the one who initiated the conversation or that Gabriella was only being polite by replying Troy. Bottom line was, they will do everything that they can just to keep her safe, and that meant keeping her away from Troy. Gabriella really was immensely grateful for her brother's concerns.

However, Gabriella still felt that it was unfair for them to push the blame to her as though she was the one at fault. She was being wronged and it seemed only fitting that she justify her actions. It was a normal reflex to defend herself and Gabriella did not feel sorry for it.

Gabriella's eyes flickered open and she realized that her computer was done loading. She clicked onto the internet icon and checked her email. She did not have much time to check her emails since she left her old town and she was sure her friends had emailed her at least once.

The page loaded almost instantly and her inbox was flooded with emails from her group of friends back home. There was at least one from each and Victoria had sent at least three messages by herself. She slowly went through her emails, smiling as she read the happenings in her old town. It seemed as though if she were to walk out the house that instant, she would be back in her old town where her friends would be dragging her out to go play somewhere in the neighborhood.

She replied to all of them and told them about her new home. She even complained about her brothers to Victoria since she always knew how to make Gabriella feel better, though she chose to leave the part about Troy out. They did not need to know anything about him since there probably was nothing about him to talk about.

As she was about to hit send to her final email, she heard a knock on her door.

"Gabi, it's me," Nick's voice was heard.

Clicking the send button, Gabriella slowly got out of her seat to unlock the door to find Nick standing at the doorway awkwardly. "Come in," she said wearily.

Nick followed behind his sister and sat beside her on her bed. He scratched his forearm for awhile before talking.

"We're sorry for shouting at you."

"We?" Gabriella knew that her other brothers were more stubborn than Nick.

"Okay fine, maybe not them but… I am…if that helps."

Gabriella sighed. "I get it, okay? You guys don't want to see me get hurt and I appreciate that but honestly… I wasn't doing anything. I was just talking to Troy, I'm not interested in him so don't worry about me."

"You're our only sister, you won't be able to understand unless you are in our shoes," Nick laughed, lightening the mood.

Gabriella smiled in response. However, her smile was short-lived and it slowly faltered. "But I will grow up someday."

"I know," Nick answered, completely serious now.

"You guys can't always be there to protect me," Gabriella bit her lip, hoping that Nick would understand that she could fend for herself.

Nick was quiet for a long time. His eyes were looking down at the bed sheets on Gabriella's bed while his hands fiddled with the hem of his shirt. The silence made Gabriella feel uncomfortable but she clammed her mouth shut and watched Nick's fidgeting fingers. Finally Nick spoke.

"I'll try to calm the rest down… I can't promise you anything else," Nick said, pushing himself off the bed and leaving the room, leaving Gabriella alone in her room once more.

Gabriella remained on her bed after that, thinking for a long time. She did not actually believe that Nick and her brothers would actually stop their over-protective brother nonsense, but it was worth a shot. Hopefully, her words would sink in and they would actually understand what she was trying to convey.

Gabriella did not speak to her brothers until the next day. She remained silent through dinner and locked herself in her room after that. She woke up the next day and ate her breakfast on the dinning table while her brothers ate their breakfast in front of the television. They were their usual loud self but they made a point to put on an angry mask when Gabriella was around, except Nick who gave her a weak smile which she appreciated. Gabriella thought that they were being immature. Surprisingly, her mother did not even notice, most probably due to her stress at work.

Gabriella lounged around the house for the whole day, trying to kill time until it was time for Sharpay and Taylor to fetch her for pool. She read a few books here and there, surfed the net for a little while and watched her brothers play video games. When it was almost time, Gabriella returned to her room to change into a casual sleeveless blouse with black shorts and a denim jacket. The doorbell rang just as she was done inspecting herself in front of the mirror. She quickly grabbed her bag and hopped down the steps, trying to get to the door before her brothers do.

"Don't bother," Gabriella said briefly to Damon who was just about to open the door, "that's for me."

Damon's hand that was just about to touch the doorknob dropped to his side. He narrowed his eyes, speculating. "How do you know?"

"I just know, okay?" Gabriella was done with their paranoia.

"Who're they?" Nick asked curiously.

Gabriella was already at the door by the time and her hand rested on the doorknob before answering. "No one."

"That's what she said yesterday when she was with Bolton," Aaron sneered.

"Okay fine! It's Taylor and Sharpay, happy?" Gabriella exclaimed, clearly exasperated.

Aloysious chuckled. "What are you going to do? Sew clothes for the dog?"

"They're names!" Gabriella said, shocked. She hoped that Taylor and Sharpay did not hear that.

Damon, who was tired of all the drama, peeped through the peephole on the door to confirm who was behind. He saw a blonde girl and an African-American girl both waiting impatiently. "No guys," Damon declared.

"Told you," Gabriella mumbled while opening the door. Just as she did so, Sharpay looked up from her nails and immediately shouted a "Finally!" before shutting her mouth when she saw the four older boys sitting in the living room all staring at the two girls standing outside the threshold.

Gabriella blew out a breath before speaking to Sharpay and Taylor. "Let's just go."

"O- Okay," Sharpay stuttered, allowing herself to be pulled away by Gabriella.

All four brothers stared silently as Gabriella and her two friends walked off. They were already out of their line of sight when Aaron realized something.

"Dudes! For all you know, she's meeting him _there_!" Aaron shouted.

"She'd better not…" Damon threatened menacingly.

Meanwhile, Gabriella and her friends were already well on their way to their destination. However, her little incident back at the house caused her to be bombarded with questions.

"Who were those guys?" Sharpay gushed. "They were hot!"

Gabriella turned her head and looked at Sharpay with a disbelieving look. "They're my brothers," she clarified.

"All of them?" This time Sharpay was the one who gave Gabriella an are-you-kidding-me look. She then recomposed herself before talking. "Boy, I wouldn't mind being their sister."

"Trust me, sometimes it gets annoying," Gabriella rolled her eyes, recalling their behavior for the previous few days.

"What went on inside?" Taylor asked, puzzled. "It sounded like you guys were having some sort of a fight."

"They think I'm going out with some guy," Gabriella replied, irritation lacing her words.

"Overprotective," Sharpay purred, "I like."

Gabriella was beyond horrified to hear such things coming from her friend. "_Please_ don't talk about them like that," she begged.

"I'm kidding!" Sharpay laughed. "Maybe I would go after them if they weren't your brothers but…"

"Thank god!" Gabriella said relieved. "That would be _weird_."

"I'm just shocked that none of the cheerleaders had jumped on them yet," Sharpay responded nonchalantly, "although knowing them…they will soon!"

"And I don't suppose that my brothers' being on the basketball team helps?" Gabriella cringed.

"Your brothers are on the _basketball team_?" Taylor asked in utter shock.

"I'm not all that surprised really," Sharpay admitted, "boys do _not_ get bodies like that unless they're jocks."

"They just had their tryouts yesterday," Gabriella told the two girls, "Coach looks happy with them."

"Well, guess you are on your way up the social ladder little missy!" Sharpay nudged Gabriella playfully.

Gabriella sighed. "Hardly, I'll just be their little sister, that's all."

"Oh! By the way, I just remembered! Speaking of basketball teams, the Bolton brothers are having a party at their house. Everyone's invited. Taylor and I are going. You?" Sharpay questioned.

"I don't know…" Gabriella replied uncertainly. She still did not want to tell anyone about her Troy incident at the tryout. It somehow did not seem right to be talking about it.

"Come on…_please?_" Sharpay pleaded. "It'll be fun! It always is!"

Gabriella sucked in a deep breath. "Let me think about it…"

"Well you better think fast. The party's tomorrow night." Taylor cautioned.

"Alright alright… I'll think about it tonight then," Gabriella wanted them to drop the topic. Troy was definitely a sensitive issue with her at the moment.

"I just realized you never did tell us anything about your old life…" said Sharpay who was deep in thought, trying to recall if Gabriella ever spoke of her life back in her old home.

"Nothing much to know really, I live in this little neighborhood, go to school, spend time with my brothers and friends…"

"Oh, come on! Tell us about it!"

After much persuasion, Gabriella finally relented and talked about her old life and all her friends there. She spoke of their fun times and the times where they spoke of their personal troubles and she was not even half way done when they finally reached their destination.

"Hold that thought, would you?" Sharpay held a finger up at Gabriella before turning to the man behind the counter, "Pool for four."

_Four? _Gabriella thought. There were only three of them. The man behind the desk quickly checked the computer on his desk and stretched his head to the small paper taped to his desk. "Okay, go down the hall, first door on the left. You ladies know where all the equipments are?"

"Yupp!" Sharpay responded.

"Okay, have fun!" the man said in an enthusiastic voice but Gabriella could tell that he was really bored out of his mind. They must be having a slow day.

Sharpay and Taylor took the lead and strode down the hallway. Gabriella walked behind the two girls, not knowing the place as well as they did. Their earlier topic was long forgotten and the current topic was pool. Suddenly, Gabriella recalled her earlier confusion.

"How come you booked for four?" Gabriella enquired amidst all the talking. "Is there someone else joining us?"

"Kelsi's coming too," Taylor explained, "she has piano lessons now so she usually comes a little late."

Gabriella nodded her head in understanding and they were suddenly facing the door to their pool room. Sharpay pushed the handle of the door and made her way in, obviously having been there quite a few times.

The room had not only one but three pool tables all spread out around the huge room. The room was nicely furnished and there was a carpet on the floor with intricate designs. Sharpay expertly retrieved the pool sticks from their hiding place, and found the multi-colored balls that Gabriella only saw on television.

As Sharpay was setting up the balls to play, Gabriella asked Taylor, "How do you play?"

"Of course the pros have many different rules to go by, but the way we play it, you just try to hit the balls into the holes except the white one."

"Why can't the white one be shot in?"

"The white one is the cue ball, you use the pool stick to hit the white one so that it will hit others that go in. If you hit in the white one, you can't continue playing," Taylor said simply.

"Sounds easy enough," Gabriella answered.

"Wait till you try it," Sharpay smirked as she threw the pool stick towards Gabriella who stumbled and barely managed to catch it. "You can take the first shot."

Gabriella held the pool stick tightly, unsure of how to hold it. This however, only made Sharpay and Taylor laugh. Thankfully, Taylor, being the helpful one, offered Gabriella her help and taught Gabriella how to position her hands. She was then left to try on her own and as she stood in an awkward position. She did manage to hit the ball, but it went in the wrong direction and the many colored balls in the centre were only slightly dispersed.

"You'll get it," Taylor patted Gabriella's back before taking her own stick and finding a position that gave her the best advantage. She bent her body down so that her eyes were at eye level with the pool table and aimed at the balls. She pulled her hand back and forth with the pool stick brushing on the fingers of her other hand. Finally, she pulled back one last time and jerked her hand forward, causing the white cue ball to roll and scatter the other balls.

"Wow…" Gabriella mumbled as she stood dumbfounded. Taylor straightened her back and inspected her work.

"It's alright," Taylor said humbly, "I'm not exactly that good."

"My turn!" Sharpay exclaimed excitedly. She too, like Taylor, shot with technique unlike Gabriella who was clumsily fooling around with the pool stick. As the game went on, Gabriella did not even manage to hit a single ball in while Sharpay and Taylor dominated the game. Persistent as she was, Gabriella insisted on game after game, wanting to at least hit a ball in the annoyingly small holes. Halfway through, Kelsi had arrived and she sat quietly at the side and waited for the game to end so that she could join in the next game.

Kelsi was a rather good player, if Gabriella said so herself. She was always so precise with each shot and managed to hit in quite a few balls herself. The only thing was, Kelsi just could not talk at all when Gabriella was around. She would smile at some things the others said but she would not say anything. At first, it was only a suspicion that Kelsi was afraid to talk with Gabriella around, but Gabriella was starting to think that that was in fact the case.

After a few rounds, Gabriella grew increasingly frustrated and her patience was wearing thin. All she wanted to do was shoot in one ball. _One ball._ Was it really that tough a job? She could handle math problems so easy yet she stumbled at a game of pool.

"I'm thirsty," Sharpay whined.

"I kind of need a drink myself," Taylor admitted, while Kelsi just nodded.

Gabriella was not thirsty at all. All that she was concerned about was pool. She was so angry that she could not think of anything else. Also, knowing that Kelsi felt uncomfortable around her, Gabriella wanted to give the three of them some time alone to talk so she said, "Why don't you all go? I want to stay here and play."

"Okay," Sharpay turned, about to leave, before Taylor spoke.

"Need us to get you anything?" Taylor asked politely.

"Um…" Gabriella pondered as she held her pool stick, "just get me a coke."

"Okay," Taylor replied, "be back soon!"

So Gabriella was left alone in the room with three pool tables. She quickly set up the balls the way she saw Sharpay did and tried again and again. Due to her frustrations, the force of her stick on the ball was steadily increasing and several times the ball was even shot out of the table, to which Gabriella put back randomly. Even when the ball was right at the hole pocket, she somehow still managed to bring it further and further from the hole. She was so engrossed in her game to say the least and she was so mad that wanted to slam her head against the wall. After what seemed like a few minutes, the door opened and Gabriella assumed that Sharpay and Taylor were back from buying their drinks.

"Sharpay! Taylor!" Gabriella seethed in anger. "I just can't…" Gabriella trailed off as she turned her head and realized who the person who just came in was.

"Gabriella?" the boy dressed in a simple button down shirt and casual jeans asked.

"Troy."

"I didn't expect to see you here," Troy confessed, making his way over to her.

"Sharpay and Taylor wanted to play pool," Gabriella stated, watching Troy intently, almost wary. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here with my brothers," Troy said simply as he leaned to the side of the pool table, his back facing the table. With his hands supporting himself on the table, he turned his head towards Gabriella. "Hey do you know about our party tomorrow?"

Not wanting Troy to think that he meant something to her to the point that she had been talking about him, Gabriella lied. "Um…no."

"It's at our house, you can ask Sharpay and Taylor where that is. They know." Troy explained further, not knowing that Gabriella already knew. "Everyone's invited."

Gabriella only nodded her head silently as if she was digesting the information for the first time, which prompted Troy to question her. "Will you be coming?"

Unsure of what to reply, Gabriella pinched her lips before giving Troy the same answered as she did before to Sharpay and Taylor. "I'll think about it."

"I wanted to ask you that day at the tryout but you had to leave. But…I'm glad I met you here today," Troy continued to speak while scratching his neck, "I hope you'll come."

Gabriella did not reply. Instead she held her pool stick like a support and she looked at the ground, looking incredibly awkward. To ease the mounting tension, Troy's voice broke the silence, "How are you liking East High so far?"

Gabriella fidgeted before answering, "It's…different."

There was a pause as Troy waited for Gabriella to elaborate her point. Seeing that she did not plan to explain any further, Troy pushed on. "Good different I hope."

"Yeah," Gabriella said vaguely to pacify him but Troy was not at all fooled.

"That doesn't sound convincing…" Troy voiced out his opinion, hoping that this time, he would be able to get a better reply.

"I don't know," Gabriella continued, "I've only been there three days."

Troy understood that. "East High's great. You'll love it there."

Sensing that their conversation was getting increasingly awkward, Gabriella just nodded her head before returning to her game. Holding her pool stick back in position on the table, she tried to shoot, ignoring the fact that Troy was there looking at her. Troy watched Gabriella closely as she allowed the pool stick to slide back and forth against her skin between her knuckles. As Gabriella let loose her pool stick, the ball again went in the unintended direction. She almost swore under her breath, but she told herself not to since Troy was there. Troy chuckled lightly.

"I'm guessing you've never played pool before," Troy said as he tried to contain his smile unsuccessfully.

Gabriella, not wanting to seem stupid, replied, "I've played for hours before you came." As soon as it was out, she realized that she sounded stupid saying that and just kept her mouth shut.

However, that only made Troy smile wider and he pushed himself off the pool table. Gabriella watched from the corner of her eye as he walked towards her.

"Take your jacket off."

"_Excuse me?_" Gabriella asked incredulously as her head snapped to where Troy was standing. She did not know that she had completely misunderstood what Troy was saying.

"That jacket," Troy jerked his head at her denim jacket, "is very stiff. It affects your hand movement." He shook his head in disapproval. "Not good for playing pool."

Knowing that she had no way of getting out of it, Gabriella shrugged her jacket off, well-aware of Troy's stare. As Gabriella threw her jacket on a chair at the side, Troy's eyes raked her body, permitting himself to enjoy her body for that split second, before regaining his composure when Gabriella faced him again.

"Now what?" Gabriella asked.

"Now," Troy smiled, "we play pool."

Confused, Gabriella watched stupidly as Troy turned her such that she was facing the pool table and he was behind her. Gabriella could feel the heat radiating from his body as he expertly adjusted her fingers on the pool table to act as a tripod and used her hand that was gripping onto the pool stick to place the pool stick on top. Placing his hands on her hips, he tried to get her to bend down in the right way. He then gently held her bare shoulders and slowly skimmed his fingers down the length of her arms, which made Gabriella shiver, oblivious to Troy.

"What's your favorite color?" Troy whispered with his mouth against Gabriella's ear, his arms holding Gabriella's forearms firmly.

Gabriella felt chills down her spine as she felt Troy's warm breath. Struggling not to show Troy what he was doing to her, Gabriella swallowed her saliva before responding.

"Um…Blue?" Gabriella's thoughts were getting hazy.

"Blue it is."

Troy controlled her arms using his own and gently pushed the pool stick back and forth before finally forcefully shooting the cue ball. The white cue ball quickly raced across the pool table and hit the walls of the table before it rolled over to where the blue ball was not at all strategically placed. The blue ball, upon impact, rolled in the direction of the pocket holes of the pool table and dropped in.

Troy and Gabriella though, did not notice that. All that was running through Gabriella's mind was the way Troy stood behind her, and the breaths he released that warmed her skin. Troy, on the other hand, was looking for signs on Gabriella's face that revealed anything she was thinking. He searched her face for anything and finally spoke when he found nothing.

"What do you think?"

Gabriella did not respond. Instead she slowly tilted her head towards Troy but only halfway as she knew she had to stop herself from looking at his irresistible eyes. Feeling the breaths on her skin getting heavier, Gabriella licked her lips.

Troy, however, saw that particular action and took it as an invite. He had been looking at her full luscious lips for quite awhile now and wanted to close the distance between them. Slowly, he closed his eyes as he leaned his head towards hers and captured her lips with his own in a sensual way. Stroking her silky smooth arms, he savored the feel of her soft lips against his own for the first time before slowly releasing them. He then dove in for yet another one before releasing her perfect lips again reluctantly. This carried on for quite a few times and Troy enjoyed every single one. _God, how could I have not done this earlier? _Troy thought.

However, Gabriella was turning her head away in an unsuccessful resistance each time their lips touched. She was fighting an inner battle as to whether she should allow this to carry on. Her emotions were so conflicted and confused that she was unsure of what she was even doing at that moment.

Troy soon realized what Gabriella was doing as he found it increasingly difficult to stretch his neck. He swiftly removed the pool stick from her grasp and turned her body in an instinctive move, making her face him. Pressing her against the pool table, Troy quickly connected their lips again, hungrily this time. His hands held onto her hips firmly, stroking the piece of cloth above her hips.

Gabriella, being cornered by Troy, knew she had no way to escape anymore, and a small part of her did not want to either. It was begging her to stay and enjoy this in complete and utter bliss. As Troy's mouth pressed harder on hers, she found that voice getting louder and louder and at some point, she had unknowingly given in.

So instead of trying to lean back onto the pool table as she did before, she gently set her hands onto Troy's shoulders as he kissed her. Holding his shoulders tighter to her, she molded her own lips together with Troy's, enjoying everything about him. She could smell his delicious body scent which only made her want to get closer to him. She could feel his body getting hotter and hotter which only made her feel safe in his embrace. She could feel her knees buckling underneath her, yet she could not stop.

Troy did not let her change go unnoticed and was relieved when Gabriella finally stopped shying away from him. Pressing his lips onto Gabriella's with greater ferocity than before, he pinned her body against the table. He was so engrossed in their make out session that it took him a moment to notice that Gabriella's hands were pressing harder and harder down on his shoulders and his hands on her waist had to support her weight even more than it already had. Soon, Troy realized what was going on, that Gabriella was getting weak from kissing him, which only made him smile. Wrapping his arm around Gabriella's waist, he lifted Gabriella up onto the pool table so she would not need to any effort to stand.

Gabriella had let out a gasp at the action, clearly shocked. However, Troy quickly helped her recover by tugging and pulling at her lips once again. She entangled one of her hands in his amazingly soft hair while the other travelled up his neck to push his jaw up so that she could connect their lips. She held him tightly to her as they kissed intensely, with her already past fighting against him and now not being able to get enough of him.

"Mmm…Gabriella…" Troy moaned.

With his mouth still on Gabriella's, Troy slowly slid his hand up her thigh, up to the hem of her shorts where he slowly stroked the skin underneath, which made Gabriella moan. His other hand remained on her hips although Troy's hand was itching to travel underneath the cloth that shielded her skin from his.

It was awhile before they finally broke up, mainly due to Gabriella's erratic breathing and her need for oxygen. Both of them felt exhilarated and more than a little jostled. However, Troy continued to kiss the corner of her lips and her cheek several times before finally resting his forehead onto hers with a huge smile on his features.

Gabriella could barely control her breathing even though they were done making out, especially since Troy's fingers continued to stroke her thigh. After that, when she finally managed to calm down, she opened her eyes and she saw Troy still had his own closed, but he was grinning widely.

All of a sudden, Gabriella again felt self-conscious and regretted her actions. She quickly and abruptly pushed Troy away from her and jumped off the pool table, grabbing her bag and her jacket before quickly making her exit. However, as she left the room, she saw two other bigger boys who shared Troy's blue eyes almost walking into the now open door. They stood outside the door with shocked expressions on their faces and drinks in their hands, but Gabriella did not bother with them and ran away as fast as possible.

Troy, who was still breathing heavily, watched Gabriella's back as she left him for the second time in two days. He watched as she ran away before turning his eyes towards his brothers who were looking at him with bewildered expressions on their faces.

As Gabriella ran, she chided herself for being so naïve and weak. She could not believe that she had made out with Troy, of all people. It was stupid of her and she felt humiliated that she could possibly have just given Troy what he was aiming for. What's more was the fact that she had just given him her first kiss. On a whim, no less. As she ran along the deserted corridors, She tried to put those thoughts behind her, tried to forget them. All she wanted at that point was to get away from Troy.


	8. In His Room

"Wait, so why aren't we going back again?"

"I told you, the guy said our time was up and asked me to leave."

"But we left to get drinks. Surely there's some kind of exception for that," Sharpay continued, "they can't make us pay for leaving to get drinks. It's not fair!"

"You guys paid?" Gabriella tried to recall any memory of them paying for their game of pool.

"Before we left for drinks, he made us stop and pay first. That man has trust issues," Sharpay explained, "and apparently he is a cheat too seeing as he didn't let us play our full time! For God's sake, we just went out for drinks!"

"I don't know Sharpay," Gabriella lied, sipping on her can of coke.

Truth was she couldn't make herself face Troy after that fiasco. The way she gave in so easily was so pathetic and to Troy, she must have looked like easy prey. And not only that, his brothers had managed to catch a glimpse of what happened and it was not all that hard to piece two and two together.

Gabriella knew that others would make a big fuss over it and decided to lie and pretend her way through. So far, things were somewhat going well except for some little details that Sharpay refused to let go. Eventually, Gabriella managed to convince Sharpay of her lie and Sharpay accepted the lie grudgingly. Now, she just needed to keep it from her brothers.

As if she could read Gabriella's mind, Sharpay asked, "Hey, you are going to the Bolton's party right? It's going to be epic."

Gabriella squirmed as the uncomfortable topic once again surfaced. "I don't know," she tried to sound indecisive. All that was going on in her mind was how awkward it would be if Troy and her had to talk. She guessed that he would probably ask why she left though she would not be surprised if he did. After all, who likes the feeling of being ditched?

Sharpay gave a face that looked sort of displeased while Taylor looked at Gabriella with pleading eyes. Gabriella felt even guiltier now as her lies kept piling up. _Why can't I just man up and tell them what's going on? _Gabriella thought to herself and instantly received an internal reply. _Oh because you are a coward. _

"Please Gabriella…" Taylor begged. "Think about it, this could be a great way for you to meet new people."

Gabriella suddenly recalled Troy saying everyone was invited. Honestly, what are the chances that they will meet? He will be surrounded by his team and the cheerleaders or possibly even all the girls. As long as she stuck close to Sharpay and Taylor, she should not meet Troy. Looking at Sharpay and Taylor's expressions, Gabriella tried to convince herself that nothing will happen if she goes. Yet another part of her remains doubtful.

"Like I said before, I'll give you a reply by tonight, alright?" Gabriella answered.

"Girl, look at the sky," Sharpay made a gesture to the air above her. "It is night."

"I meant tonight tonight."

Sharpay shook her head in disapproval. "No way young missy, you better give us a favorable reply right now."

Taylor quirked her eyebrow. "Favorable? What happened to Sharpay?"

"Digressing here people. Gabriella?" Sharpay returned the focus to Gabriella.

Gabriella closed her eyes and pinched her lips. "Can I say no?"

"You are a smart girl Gabriella, you should know my answer." Sharpay patted Gabriella's shoulders with a smile on her face. "So we'll meet you at your house before the party. Dress nice! And you better not bail on us."

"Fine," Gabriella groaned as she walked up the lane to her house.

"I mean it!" Sharpay shouted. Gabriella waved a dismissing hand at Sharpay while her back was still facing Sharpay. _So now I have to go to his house…And before that I have to tell my brothers. Yikes._

As Gabriella was attempting to digest the fact that she was roped in to go to this party, she entered her house to a lip-smacking aroma wafting from the dining table which was filled with delicious-looking food. She walked over, bending over the table to get a better look and smell of the food, which only made her hungrier. At that moment, Maria Montez left the kitchen with an apron hanging on her waist and noticed Gabriella's presence.

"Oh Gabriella! Good, you're back. Put your stuff down and take a seat," Maria gave a wide smile before continuing. "Dinner's ready." As she started to remove her apron, she shouted upstairs to Gabriella's brothers. "Boys! Dinner's ready! Get down now or we'll start without you!"

Gabriella made her way up to her room to put her bag down as her brothers rushed down the stairs, pushing and shoving. Gabriella just barely managed to avoid them and she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. _How am I going to tell them?_ Dumping her bag on her bed, Gabriella too removed such thoughts from her mind and subsequently made up her mind to enjoy her dinner for that few hours.

After a short dinner, she decided to head up to her room to read a book. As she laid on her bed, her mind started to shut down and words stopped registering. Soon, Gabriella was asleep in her bed with a book in her hand. Silently, Damon opened the door and tried his best not to make any noise as he removed the book from Gabriella's hand and gently tucked her in her bed underneath her blanket. He stared at her wordlessly for a moment before leaving as silent as he came, closing the door with caution so as to not wake his beloved sister.

The next day, Gabriella woke up at about noon, just in time for lunch. She did her morning routine and went down for lunch with her family. Her brothers were unsurprisingly playing video games once again and Gabriella headed for the food. She observed that more than half of the food was gone and it was then that she noticed plates of food beside her brothers on the couch. Her mother was not around so Gabriella guessed that she was probably doing her work. She took her share of food, leaving behind enough for her mother, and joined her brothers in the living room.

"You are going to lose Nick!" Aaron shouted, tilting his controller back and forth, pushing all buttons expertl.

"Ha! You're losing me right now!" Nick exclaimed without taking his eyes off the television.

Aaron turned to his twin brother for help. "Tag team?"

"You know it!" Aloysious fist bumped his brother.

Within a minute, Nick lost the game. He was disgruntled at how he was ganged up upon and knew that he would have won if they had not teamed up. "This is unfair!"

"Get a twin then!" Aaron gloated sarcastically.

"Shut it…" Nick mumbled.

"Hey, we better tell mom about the party," Aloysious reminded.

"Oh yeah," Aaron thought to himself, then looked at Nick with a smirk. "The loser should do it."

"What?" Nick shouted. "It's two against one. I'd like to see one of you try and beat two people by yourself."

"So let it be said, so let it be done," Aloysious said with much conviction, before adding, "or something like that."

"Besides, any one of us can take on two Nicks at once. And just to point out, we are twins. So we are like two halves of a whole or something, no?" Aaron challenged. Nick just stared at them as if he was about to throttle them.

"Tell mom I'm going too, would you?" Gabriella voiced out in the midst of their quarrel. That sentence alone was enough to make all of them forget about their squabbles. They all stared at her in complete silence as Gabriella felt more than a little uncomfortable by the silence. Damon was the first to speak up.

"You are going to a party hosted by the guy trying to hit on you? In his house?"

"Everyone's going," Gabriella answered.

"Do you honestly thing that's a good reason to give yourself up to the predator? I thought you were smarter than this." Aaron raised his voice and looked incredibly mad.

"You make it sound like they are our enemies." Gabriella laughed, trying to lighten the atmosphere, but failed.

This time, Aloysious tried to reason nicely with Gabriella in a less harsh tone. "He could try something funny on you. We can't be around you all the time."

"Then let me protect myself. I can handle it." Gabriella looked at her brothers, trying to knock some sense into them. When her eyes landed on Nick, she pleaded with him using her eyes to help her, to support her.

Nick looked at her for a moment, deciding. Then, he turned to his brothers. "Maybe we should just lay off. I mean, she is old enough to take care of herself."

Aaron looked at his oldest brother from the corner of his eye with arms crossed over his chest. "What do you think?"

Damon sighed. "I say we ask mom. If she's fine with it, who are we to say no?"

Aaron gritted his teeth, fuming. Aloysious, sensing how displeased his twin brother was, placed a hand over his shoulders. "Fine, we'll all ask together," Aloysious spoke for both him and his twin.

Half an hour later, all five siblings were in their mother's room where she had initially been working. She had a completely worn out face and looked like she was about to collapse at any moment. Still, the Montez boys still refused to let her off and were explaining the situation to her. Gabriella stood at one side listening but not speaking as she gave her brothers the chance to present their side of the story. Her brothers kept emphasizing all their worries but Maria did not see the issue. She felt that it was fine for Gabriella to go to this party since she was old enough, but every time she gave her consent, Gabriella's brothers would cut in to reiterate how something might happen to her.

"He could trick her to go to some secret room where no one can hear her screams," Aloysious said dramatically.

"That's a little extreme."

"Then he may force her to do drugs," Aaron quickly argued.

"I doubt he would force her to do anything in a place where there are hundreds of teenagers. Besides, this party is at his house and he wouldn't try this sort of things when his parents are around."

"It is an unfamiliar place with lots of strangers. It isn't really the safest place. Things might happen," Damon said rationally, knowing that his brothers' overreacting is not helping them.

"If that's the case, then someone keep watch over her."

"Do you think she'll be fine on her own?" Nick asked honestly, not really comfortable of the idea of his little sister going to such hormone-filled places, yet not wanting to restrict her freedom of choice.

"Yes, yes. I let you boys go to parties like this even younger than she is now. I trust her, and as her brothers, you should too."

Aaron refused to budge. "Well, we're guys. She's a girl. We can protect ourselves better than she can."

At this point, Maria has had enough. "Listen okay, I'm tired. I think it is completely fine if she wants to party for just one night. I'm giving her my permission, whether you boys like it or not. If you still don't feel secure, someone accompany her there and back. Now, I really have to get back to my work, so, please…"

"Can I leave now?" Gabriella asked impatiently.

"Please," Maria said with equal annoyance.

Gabriella was the first to leave, followed by her brothers, albeit a little grudgingly. As soon as the door to their mother's room was locked, Gabriella whipped her head around and faced her brothers with a challenging look on her face.

"So, who's going to be my escort for tonight?" Gabriella asked with a sarcastic smile plastered on her face, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Listen, just because mom let you go, doesn't mean that we will let you out of your sight for one-" Aaron started, but was interrupted by Damon.

"Stop."

"What?" Aaron asked.

"Let her go by herself," Damon ordered, to the surprise of his siblings, "or at least with her friends. We should learn to trust her."

"But-"

"If we don't start letting her be independent now, she will never learn. Let her go. And no one follow her." Damon said in a stern voice before going to his room.

The four of them, still surprised, stared at his door even after he had closed it. Then, without another word, Gabriella's brother went back to their own rooms and Gabriella was left standing by herself. She knew she should go back to her room to get ready, but somehow she wanted to know what caused the change in Damon. She slowly made her way to his room and knocked on his door.

"Come in."

Gabriella opened the door hesitantly but did not enter his room. She saw him lying on his bed, with his arms covering his eyes. She looked at him intently and asked, "Why?"

Damon did not respond for awhile, but Gabriella knew he heard her. After a moment of silence, Damon removed his arms from his eyes and sat up to look at Gabriella. Brother and sister stared at each other, trying to understand, trying to comprehend. Damon was the one who broke the eye contact as he looked at his bed, and patted the space beside him on the bed. Gabriella went over and sat down at where he patted, looked at him and continued waiting as he gathered the words to speak.

"I don't want you to hate me."

"What?" Gabriella asked after a moment of pause, not really believing her ears. Damon continued to look at his bed sheet quietly, as though something was about to happen. Realizing he was not going to speak, Gabriella tried once more.

"What makes you think I am going to hate you?"

There was another long pause before Damon spoke. "I don't really know myself," Damon laughed lightly trying to dispel the tension, "maybe I'm being paranoid."

"Tell me," Gabriella frowned, not pleased at the way he tried to laugh it off when something is bothering him.

"The way you looked at us just now," Damon looked at Gabriella, "it was as if you were rebelling or something. I don't want that to happen. I want the best for you, but I'm not going to push you to the edge. Mom was right. We should trust you."

Gabriella smiled. Seeing the way Damon looked at her, so sure yet so worried, Gabriella knelt on the bed and hugged her brother.

"Thank you," Gabriella closed her eyes as her brother hugged her as well, "I love you, you know that right?"

Damon let out a laugh at how things seemed to take such a turn, from fighting with each other to confessing to one another. "Just promise me I'll always be part of your life."

Gabriella released her hold on her brother and childishly held her pinkie out. "Promise."

Damon looked like he was about to laugh or say something like he was too old for such thing, but instead he let out a breath and hooked his own little finger with his sisters. _Just like old times_, he thought, watching his sister leave his room.

Gabriella was ready about fifteen minutes before Sharpay and Taylor were due to come. Her brothers already left since Damon ordered them to leave first so that none of them would tail her. She stood in front of her mirror, smoothing out the creases in her black skirt. She wore a red top and boots along with it. She also wore some necklaces and bracelets as accessories and was examining her outfit.

"Knock knock," Damon leaned against the door frame of his sister's bedroom.

"What do you think?" Gabriella questioned without taking her eyes off the mirror.

Damon strode in with his hands in his pockets. "The colors are nice."

Gabriella looked at her brother with a quizzical look. "The colors are nice?"

"Anything goes great with black, you know?"

Gabriella could tell her brother was holding something back. "Say it."

"Do you _really_ have to wear such a short skirt?" Damon said almost immediately in one breath.

Gabriella moved towards her brother with a smirk on her face and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me."

"You are seriously making me regret my decision." Damon squinted his eyes at his sister, but all she did was look at him with innocent eyes. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Got to go," Gabriella said, grabbing her cell phone and wallet from her bed since she did not want to carry a bag around, "and relax, okay?"

"I'll try."

"Bye," she gave her brother a wave as she passed him at her door and made her way down the stairs.

"Have fun," he shouted back just as she reached the bottom step.

Gabriella opened the front door and saw Sharpay and Taylor. They were both dressed well and after a few greetings, the trio made their way to the Bolton's. It was a while before they made it to the house and all three were pumped up for the party. Walking towards the house, they could already hear the pulsating music echoing from inside the house. Sharpay took the lead the opened the door to the house, which was left unlocked, and all three entered the house.

As Gabriella stepped into Troy's house, she could not help but search the room for Troy. It was unnerving for her to be in his house, though she was not sure why the place matters since he constantly puts her on edge. She looked around the Bolton house flooded with teen hormones and dancing bodies. The house itself felt warm and friendly, ignoring the many people present. Furniture looked nothing out of the ordinary and family pictures were placed all around. The party was so crowded and everyone already seemed to enjoy themselves with the buffet of snacks and drinks, mingling around with one another yet somehow not deviating too far from their usual cliques.

"Impressed yet?" Sharpay shouted over the loud music.

Gabriella turned to Sharpay, the dim lighting making it harder for Gabriella to see Sharpay. "It's alright," she lied with a straight face. Sharpay raised her eyebrows and all three girls ended up bursting into laughter. The party was beyond wild.

"Come on!" Sharpay urged, as she grabbed both Gabriella and Taylor's arms towards the snack table, which had a variety of food, ranging from food anybody can buy in any store to handmade cookies and brownies.

"I want a drink," Taylor spoke. "Anything I can get you two?"

"Anything's fine," Gabriella answered.

"Me too," Sharpay answered, then after a moment of pause added, "as long as it's not tea. I'm fine with ice lemon tea and stuff but not plain tea. That's so gross."

Taylor shook her head and walked towards the drinks section to get their beverages.

"They serve tea here at a party?" Gabriella questioned as she contemplated between a cookie and a brownie, deciding to go for the cookie.

"Well, you never know…" Sharpay replied, making Gabriella stifle a laugh.

Munching on her cookie as Sharpay ate some crackers, Gabriella exclaimed, "This is _really_ good."

"I know, right? Mrs. Bolton is like some kind of whiz in the kitchen. Their food is like, one of the highlights of the parties. I wish they could have a party every day of the year…Or that Mrs. Bolton can be my second mom."

"She sounds like a great person."

"I've seen her once or twice but she always seemed so friendly…and her food is a bonus." Sharpay said as Taylor passed Sharpay and Gabriella a can of drink each to which both of them replied with a simple thanks.

"Sharpay," Taylor pulled on Sharpay's arm, "he's over there." Sharpay looked in the direction where Taylor nodded her head in.

Gabriella also turned but all she could see were a mass of people and had no idea who they were talking about. "Who?" she asked, stretching her neck trying to get a better view.

"You know the guy Troy is always with? The guy I sit next to in Biology? The one with the huge afro hair thing? Chad?" Sharpay bombarded a series of questions.

"Of course."

"Taylor has a massive crush on him."

"Do not!" Taylor denied, her head slowly turning to where Gabriella assumed Chad was, "I just happen to think he is kind of cute…"

"If your definition of cute is annoying then I completely agree with you," Sharpay said sarcastically. "Seriously, you don't know him, he's like always bouncing that stupid basketball everywhere and making stupid remarks. You can do so much better than him."

"I think it's cute."

Gabriella sipped her can of drink and said as a matter of factly, "She's blinded by love."

"Well, then let's go and meet him." Sharpay edged towards the direction where Chad is, pulling Taylor along.

"What? No!" Taylor jerked her arm back.

"You think he's cute. He's over there. Let's go." Sharpay grabbed Taylor's arm firmly, trying to make Taylor budge.

"No! Sharpay! I'm not like you!" Taylor resisted.

"Let. Us. Go." Sharpay enunciated, dragging Taylor along leaving Gabriella alone at the snack table. Gabriella just smirked as she turned to the buffet table to eat more snacks laid there. As Gabriella was attempting to try every type of food on the table, someone came up from behind her.

"Hey," a low voice announced its owner's presence, which never failed to make her heart skip a beat, "I'm glad you came."

As soon as she heard it, Gabriella closed her eyes and pinched her lips. _I cannot believe I actually thought I would be able to hide from him. _She then returned to her neutral expression and turned around slowly, seeing Troy in a short-sleeved button down shirt and jeans with a smile on his face. She gave him a forced smile and continued eating.

"Having fun?" Troy continued, not giving her the opportunity to escape.

Gabriella nodded her head in response again with a forced smile.

"Did you try my mom's baking? It's really good." Troy commented as he closed the gap between them, stretched his neck over Gabriella's shoulder and reached his arm around Gabriella to grab a cookie from the table. He could not help but take the opportunity to look at Gabriella's butt.

Gabriella could feel how close how Troy's body was to hers. Their bodies were not touching just yet, but she could feel the energy, the heat from his. It was too near, yet too far. Fortunately for her, the moment was over before she knew it.

Troy took a few steps back to offer Gabriella the cookie. "I've tried," Gabriella answered and Troy in response ate the cookie in one bite. He then wiped his hands together to remove the crumbs while he chewed. _So casual_, she thought to herself. _Such a complete guy_.

"So…" Troy began, "do you want to come see my room?"

Gabriella knew herself that it was a bad idea. In his room, he could do anything and nobody would know. Her friends do not know where she is and she is not sure if they would even bother trying to find her since this is a party. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, yet at the same time she could not help but feel a rush of adrenaline coursing through her and thinking of what would happen if they two were alone, just like the last time. In the end, she did not know how to reject him so she nodded her head.

Troy grinned. "This way," he directed as he pushed past many people and climbed up the stairs with Gabriella trailing behind. She noticed that almost everyone he passed would call him or at least give him a wave. No one even expected or knew that Gabriella was with him and all ignored her with their attention all on Troy.

"Hey Troy," a girl beside one of the two males she saw the day before at pool greeted Troy, as Troy fist bumped with the male.

"Hey bro. Hey Mikayla." Troy greeted.

"Your friend?" Mikayla asked politely, gesturing to Gabriella.

"Yeah, but some other day okay?" Troy quickly dismissed and led Gabriella further down the corridors. Eventually they ended up in front of a door and Troy opened the door, allowing Gabriella to enter first.

Gabriella stepped in the room and looked around. The walls were decorated with East High banners. There was a bed in the middle and a tabletop beside it with a photograph of Troy in his basketball uniform. There was also a study table in the corner with a bunch of family pictures and his work scattered all around. Overall, it looked like an average teenager's room. Troy strode in after Gabriella and sat down on his bed.

"Make yourself at home," he told Gabriella.

Gabriella felt unsure what to do but headed towards the study table to look at the photographs. There were all kinds of family photos in different places and she picked up one that was the simplest, just a family photo with a white background. She studied it for a moment, with Troy observing her as the partially-blocked out loud music from outside filled the silence in the room.

Gabriella noticed five people in the photo, Troy and his brothers, the two she saw the day before when she was leaving, in front and Coach Bolton and a woman Gabriella assumed was his wife. They looked like a typical happy family.

Gabriella continued to hold the photo in her hands even after she lost interest in it, hoping that maybe, just maybe if she held it for a long while, Troy would get bored and just leave.

"That's my family," Troy stated after a while, getting off the bed and towards Gabriella. _Damn_, Gabriella thought as her plan failed. "You know my dad, Mr. Bolton, and you just met my second brother, Tyson, outside. The girl beside him is his girlfriend. Then this," he pointed to the woman beside Coach Bolton, "is my mom, Lucille, and the one between me and my second brother is my oldest brother, Tyler."

Gabriella nodded her head, trying to seem interested. Troy looked at her then asked, "How's your family like?"

"My family…" Gabriella answered, trying to be tactful about it, "my family has me, Aaron, Aloysious, Nick, which you already know, and Damon and Maria."

"Damon and Maria are your parents?" Troy questioned.

"Maria is my mom. Damon is my oldest brother. I've never known my dad." Gabriella replied.

"Oh…" Troy, not knowing how to answer, cursed himself internally for giving a stupid reply.

Another picture then caught Gabriella's eye. She placed the previous one down and picked up the other one. It was a picture of Troy and a pretty blond girl Gabriella had never seen before. Troy had his arms around her as they both smiled up at Gabriella.

"That's my ex-girlfriend," Troy answered the question in Gabriella's head.

"Figures…" Gabriella placed the picture down again, feeling a little peeved how guys seem so superficial at times.

Troy, a little baffled by her comment, asked, "What do you mean?"

"Guys like you are only interested in pretty blondes." Somehow, saying the sentence out loud made Gabriella even more annoyed.

"That's a stereotypical comment." Troy moved towards Gabriella, more interested now. Somehow, he liked the fact that she is constantly trying to push him away. No one really treated him like that and that only made him want her even more. He looked straight into her eyes just as she did to him.

"Isn't that always the case?" Gabriella shot back, her stance not wavering. Her arms now crossed over her chest.

"Maybe I'm an exception." Troy took another step towards Gabriella.

Gabriella dropped her arms, turned to look at the photograph of Troy and his past girlfriend and gestured towards it. "Exhibit A."

In one big step, Troy closed the distance between them such that only a thin film of air was between them. Gabriella in response took one step back, causing her to bump into the closet behind. She leaned as far as she could against the closet in an attempt to move further from Troy but Troy leaned his head forward and placed his arms beside her on the doors of the closet. She was trapped. He dipped his head, deliberately looked her up and down and settled his eyes on her brown ones. "Then maybe I need a change in scenery."

Gabriella did not know what to do because part of her wanted to run but part of her cannot wait for him to make his move. Nervous, her heart beat hard and fast and she swallowed saliva. She was still looking into his blue eyes when his eyes slowly moved down her face, resting on her lips. He looked at her pair of lips for a few breaths before his yearning made him close the gap between them. He closed his eyes, just before his lips touched hers, and she too started to lower his eyelids.

"Troy!" A female voice intruded on their moment, along with the swift opening of the door and a blast of loud music. Troy opened his eyes whipped his head towards the door in surprise, dropping his hands from the closet doors. Gabriella turned her head away, hoping that whoever it was would not be able to recognize her as she controlled her breaths.

"Kayla…" Troy breathed, still recovering from the astonishment.

"Oh…" The look on Kayla's face changing from excitement to realization of what was going on, or rather what could be going on. "Was I interrupting something?"

"Erm…" Troy struggled with his words, "did you need me for something?"

"I- I just- you promised to meet me just now, remember?" Kayla stuttered, clearly still shocked.

"I'll… be down in a minute, okay?" Troy inconspicuously dismissed her.

"Okay…" Kayla said as she placed her hands on the doorknob, lingering to have a second look at the pair before shutting the door.

Gabriella did not once turn to look at Kayla but instead stared at the photo of Troy and his ex-girlfriend. As soon as she heard the door close, she dropped her gaze onto the floor. After a while, Troy placed one of his hands beside her again and asked, "Where were we?"

He started to lean in once more, but this time, Gabriella placed a hand on his chest to stop him. She looked up at him, her eyes stinging from the tears that were about the escape. "Exhibit B" was all she said before walking away from Troy and out of his bedroom.

Troy continued to stay in the same position even after she left, deep in thought. He could have sworn that she was about to cry but he could not be sure. All he knew was that she had rejected his kiss and indirectly him but it was because she thought he only liked blondes. _She thinks I'm toying with her_, he thought to himself. Slowly, he pushed himself off the closet and made his way out the room, promising himself to prove her wrong.

"Troy!" Kayla sang as soon as Troy was out the door, breaking his train of thoughts. Obviously, she had already recovered from her shock episode.

"Oh… Hey Kayla," Troy replied, his mind on something else, "did you want me for something?"

"Surely your memory can't be that bad…" she accused. "You promised to spend your time with me, remember? I was looking for you everywhere."

Troy remembered her asking him to spend time with her, but he was almost certain he did not promise all his time with her. However, as his mom always told him and his brothers, "A boy should always treat a girl well no matter who she is or what she has done." He smiled at her, though a little half-hearted, and said, "Well, you found me. What do you want to do now?"

Meanwhile, Gabriella was more than frustrated. Why was it so hard for her to control herself? What was it about him that made him so enticing to her? He was a boy, she lived with boys her entire life, and surely she knew how to act around them? In the midst of her thoughts, Sharpay and Taylor approached her.

"Hey you!" Sharpay greeted with a slap on Gabriella's back, causing Gabriella to forgot what she was even thinking about. "Where did you go? You aren't one of those people who just ditches others at a party are you?"

"What? No, I was just looking around for…the bathroom and I…got lost."

"You still should have told us." Sharpay accused.

"Sorry…" Gabriella apologized. "How was Taylor's conquest? Any luck?"

"She chickened out, completely bailed at the last minute," Sharpay said with a glare towards Taylor.

"Hey," Taylor defended, "he's one of the most popular guys in school. I bet he wouldn't even want to be seen with a nerd like me. I mean, Gabriella, you understand right?"

"Wait, what does this have to do with me and why am I supposed to understand?" Gabriella asked, confused.

"So, you are telling me that you would go up to Troy Bolton and ask him to dance or even be your boyfriend?"

For a second, Gabriella thought that they somehow found out about her and Troy and got a little shocked. When she realized that Taylor meant it as an innocent question, she mumbled, "I guess not…"

Taylor seized the opportunity and defended herself. "See Sharpay, even Gabriella agrees with me. People like us don't just go up to the popular crowd and introduce ourselves. That's social suicide. Maybe you can since you are so outgoing and fashionable but people like me… We're better off just keeping quiet."

"Fine, fine," Sharpay surrendered, while hatching a plan of her own inside. "Let's just drop the topic. Since this is a party, I say we should party hard. As in, get drunk."

Gabriella's head shot up. She never drank before. Her mother had always discouraged them from drinking and she never dared to anyway. "I'm good," she rejected Sharpay's offer.

"Come on, it's only fun when everyone does it. Just a little," Sharpay begged, "just enough to get tipsy."

Gabriella shook her head. "I don't drink."

Taylor piped up this time. "Gabriella, come on, just a little. I don't drink that much myself but sometimes we all need to let loose. Plus, this is a party!"

"Do they even have beer or wine or whatever here? I mean, won't Coach Bolton catch us?"

"Their parents are totally cool. They usually close one eye during parties so we can do almost anything we want, as long as we don't do it in front of them purposely." Sharpay clarified.

"I really shouldn't…" Gabriella said worriedly.

"You shouldn't, but do you want to?" Sharpay raised her eyebrows with a naughty look on her face.

Gabriella had to admit, she had always wanted to know how alcohol tasted and how it felt to be drunk. Maybe…just once. It could not hurt that much right?

Soon, the three girls were helping themselves to the beer and one small cup became a few. Gabriella was forced to drink more and more and she got more and more disoriented. She was laughing at everything and nothing troubled her. After awhile, she was dancing along to the loud music as many others were. As she was dancing, someone approached her.

"Want to dance with me?" A cute-looking boy asked with one of the most adorable smiles she had seen.

Gabriella bit her lip and then giggled. She then pulled the boy forward towards her and started dancing again. Somehow, she did not mind that he was touching her body, but he still maintained a certain distance, touching her only at appropriate places. Even as she turned her body around such that her back was facing him and she was swaying her hips against his, he still did not take advantage of her. All he did was smile and watch her having fun, while still taking care of her and dancing with her.

From a distance, Troy watched the pair, jealousy eating into him. He could not be bothered about what Kayla was even talking about. All he knew was that someone was trying to steal his girl.

If only looks could kill.


	9. Too Good

Gabriella walked into the halls of East High feeling the aftermath of drinking the previous night. Her head was pounding so hard she could almost feel her brain contracting, and the noisy corridors were not helping. She found it hard to even walk in a straight line, so she felt extremely grateful that she managed to walk to her locker safely.

Her brothers had taken her home after the party and according to them, she was a mess. They had found her dancing in a mass of people and had much difficulty getting her out of the house. After that, Aaron even had to piggyback Gabriella home since she could barely walk. Needless to say, they refused to let it go when morning came and repeatedly reprimanded her for her "stupid" behavior along with a bunch of "I told you so", but Gabriella could barely register anything because of her throbbing head.

Now, in retrospect, she realized she probably should not have drunk or at least stop while she was ahead. Cursing herself internally, she slowly unlocked her locker and tried to recall what she needed for the day. When she realized she simply could not recall, she fumbled around for her timetable and checked it. The words were a blur to her and she had to strain her eyes to focus on the tiny words. Not without difficulty, she took out her books she needed. Her headache seemed to be worsening and she was close to slamming her head on the lockers. However, she restrained herself and instead put her head into her locker and let out a groan.

"Rough night?" An amused voice came from behind her.

"And morning," Gabriella answered in a drawl, before turning to see who it was.

The voice belonged to a boy who was wearing a plain white shirt on the inside and an unbuttoned green checkered button down shirt over it. He wore a pair of faded jeans along with it and some sneakers as well. He had jet black hair and black eyes that showed just a slight hint of dark brown under sunlight. He smiled such that his eyes became smaller and he looked like a young boy, though his height and build were those of a presently growing male.

The boy chuckled. "These will help," the boy offered some pills to Gabriella.

"What are those?" Gabriella asked in an almost garbled way, a little unable to think straight.

"Painkillers to ease the pain," he answered, as Gabriella gratefully took them without thinking and swallowed them. "I kind of expected it after last night. You seemed really drunk. I'm Darren by the way."

"Gabriella," she introduced herself to Darren. "And it was my first time drinking. Guess I should have known better." The boy smiled in response, as if amused. Suddenly, something inside Gabriella clicked. "You're the boy I danced with last night," she accused.

"Guilty as charged," Darren nodded.

"Well, now I feel like a total fool," Gabriella thought out loud. "Please tell me I didn't do anything last night that I would regret."

"Relax. Your record's clean. Nothing that would make you want to hide in a hole or anything."

The corner of Gabriella's mouth twitched up in response, and she closed her eyes, finding it hard to even keep them open with probably the worst headache she ever had. She took in a deep breath and opened her eyes as she let out that breath. "Why are you so nice to me?" Gabriella asked, a little curious. After all, she did not actually think that he would prepare medication for every girl in school who needed them.

"Darn. You caught me. You're good. I was hoping that I would be able to last a little longer before you eventually bust me."

"So you do have an ulterior motive. Spill." Gabriella, who was already holding all the books she needed, slammed her locker door at the last word, which only made her headache worse.

Gabriella's pain did not go unnoticed. "I remember the first time I got drunk. Worst feeling, like, ever. But it'll fade after awhile. Trust me," he said in a comforting way. "And you're right. I do have a favor to ask you."

"Hey, if it's within my capabilities, I'll do it."

"Then you'll definitely be able to help me with this one. I'm actually in East High's dance club and we are kind of short of members." Darren explained, hoping Gabriella will be able to catch on.

Gabriella understood his implied question but she was a little confused though. At her old school, dance was a big thing. Not as big as some of the sports but still, it was something that most people would consider and they were almost never short of people.

"The students in East High don't like to dance?" Gabriella questioned, albeit a little awkwardly.

"Well… actually, we do have quite a big selection to choose from." Darren scratched his neck uncertainly.

Now Gabriella was confused. "Then what's the problem?" Maybe her head is messed up from the pain and it was just logic abandoning her and she was the only one who could not understand the issue here.

"None of them were…up to standard, I guess," he shrugged. Afraid that Gabriella did not understand, he asked, "So, I was hoping you would… maybe…like to join?"

Gabriella noticed how he suddenly seemed nervous and unsure, as though all his previous confidence was gone. His eyebrows knitted together almost worriedly, reflecting how he felt. Somehow, that made him cuter to her and she had to bite her lip to contain her smile. "How do you know that I am up to your standards then?" Gabriella asked tentatively, hoping not to stress him out more.

That seemed to work as his confidence returned to him. He slipped his hands into his pockets and replied, "Hey, don't forget, I actually saw you dance last night and I can tell a good dancer when I see one."

"I was drunk," Gabriella laughed, trying to maintain the light mood.

"You mean _even_ while you were drunk, you still can move. Don't doubt my judging abilities." Darren's joking suddenly turned serious. "So will you consider my offer?"

"Umm…" Gabriella looked at Darren whose expression was practically begging her to say yes. " I'll think about it," she answered politely.

Darren looked to the ground and nodded his head. When he faced her again, a smile was plastered on his face. "Well, we have rehearsals at least once every week. Maybe you would consider coming to see us before deciding?" Darren asked hopefully. "I promise you won't regret it."

Gabriella nodded, which made Darren smile widely. "Cool. Do you mind giving me your number so I can give you the details?" He asked as he fished for his phone in his pocket, and passed it to her.

"Sure." Gabriella took his phone and keyed in her name and number. As soon as she was done, she returned it back to him. He gladly accepted it.

"I'll text you soon. See you around school," Darren said just as he started to walk backwards. Gabriella gave a small wave, to which he said a "bye" before turning around and walking away gleefully.

As soon as he was out of sight, Gabriella leaned her head against her locker to ease the pain. _This is going to be a really long day,_ she thought to herself just as the bell rang to signal the first lesson of the day. Sighing, she slowly lifted her head off the lockers and walked towards Ms. Darbus's class, still a little disoriented.

Meanwhile, in Ms. Darbus's classroom, Troy and his friends were getting all hyped up about the championship game coming up in two week's time. Naturally, as they were talking about the championship game, the topic of the post-game dance was eventually brought up.

"Who you bringing to the dance after?" Chad asked.

"I don't know man," Troy answered.

"Come on, dude. You know you have to ask a girl to be your date for the dance at the pre-game rally. You can have any girl you want, just pick one," Chad reminded Troy.

Unfortunately, there is only one girl Troy wants at the moment, and she is not too keen about him. Troy sighed. "Speak for yourself. If it's so easy, you do it."

Chad raised both his hands in the air. "Hey, just trying to help. Besides, I'm not part of the Bolton brothers," Chad reasoned, before doing his best imitation of a girl, "who are _so hot_ by the way."

"Shut up," Troy laughed, but his mind was still thinking about who he should bring to the dance, or more specifically, if he should ask Gabriella to go with him.

This whole thing started last year during the pre-game rally, when Tyler asked his girlfriend at that point in time to go with him to the dance. Tyson then proceeded to follow suit and asked his girlfriend at that time who is also his current girlfriend Mikayla. After that, the principal jokingly asked Troy if he wanted to ask anyone to the dance and Troy, who preferred a less public approach, was pressurized to ask his own girlfriend Rachel at that time to the dance in front of the entire school. Rachel, of course agreed, but the whole thing made Troy feel unnerved for some reason.

Now, with the game, and hence the pre-game rally, rapidly approaching and no girlfriend that is, in a way, obligated to go with him, Troy was feeling a little stressed. He could imagine the rejection if he asked an unwilling girl. Though he knew Chad was right when he said that almost all girls would kill to go with him to the dance, he still had that littlest bit of doubt, even more so with Gabriella. His safest bet was probably to go with Kayla but to be honest, he was not too overwhelmed at that thought. Kayla was fine for the most part. She would wear a dress, he would wear a tux, they would give each other compliments, drink, dance, basically the usual. However, he had another girl in mind, a girl whom he knew he would much rather be with.

Then again, there was the whole incident the previous night in his room, where Gabriella practically flipped out just because she mostly sees him with blonde girls. To some extent, he understood why she reacted the way she did, but something felt off to him. Maybe she really did think of him as the typical boy who is so superficial he only goes after hot girls, but there was something more. Something that she was not telling him.

"Troy!" A manicured hand slammed onto his desk, jolting him from his reverie. He jumped a little and looked up to find a smirking Sharpay bent over the front of his desk. By then, Chad had already found someone else to talk to.

"Umm…" Troy started when Sharpay did not say anything, "can I help you?"

"Well, I was thinking after your party last night, which I had a blast at by the way, I kind of wanted my own party. Except, you know, less people. And," she paused dramatically, "I want to make it a pool party."

Troy did not know if she was inviting him. For all he knew, she could be asking him to serve guests though he himself highly doubted that. Still, it was kind of thick-skinned to just assume he was being invited. "So…"Troy pressed for more explanation.

"I'm inviting you!" Sharpay said it as though it was plain obvious, which it was.

Troy thought about it. Being in Sharpay's big mansion was definitely something to consider. It had loads of facilities, and the food is top notch. However, the only drawback was that he was not too keen on going to a girl party if Sharpay was indeed planning one. "Who's invited?" he asked.

"Well, I was thinking maybe like me, obviously, you and some of your guy friends, Taylor, Kelsi and-" Sharpay stopped short of her sentence when Gabriella walked past her. She yanked on Gabriella arm who stumbled a little before realizing that it was Sharpay. "Gabriella! Just the person I want to see."

"Hi to you too," Gabriella mumbled as she rubbed the temples on her forehead, trying to ease the throb. She had not noticed Troy's presence, but Troy was looking at her intently, fully aware why she seemed so out of it.

However, Sharpay was not so sensitive. "What's wrong with you? You look terrible."

"Thanks for that obvious comment," Gabriella rebuked. "I think I have a hangover or something," Gabriella said before she remembered that Sharpay drank with her too. "Why do you seem so…normal?"

"I don't know. Anyway, listen. I'm having a pool party at my place. Most probably this weekend, you coming?"

"_Another_ party?" Gabriella asked incredulously, "I honestly don't think I'm up for it."

"Well, you're coming whether you like it or not," Sharpay demanded, "it's mandatory for you."

"We'll see." Gabriella closed her eyes and continued to rub her forehead, though she could feel it getting better.

Sharpay knew that she would be able to persuade her to go, even if she did not seem so keen. Proud of herself, Sharpay happily looked at Troy, who was watching Gabriella all the while with a concerned look on his face. "So, how about it Troy?"

It was then that Gabriella finally noticed Troy's presence as she snapped her eyes open. She saw Troy studying her and immediately wondered what Sharpay had been talking to Troy about.

Meanwhile, Troy was thinking. _A pool party? With Montez?_ He simply could not resist.

"Okay."

"Great! I'll text you the details!" Sharpay said, yanking Gabriella away forcefully.

"What's this about a pool party?" Gabriella asked as soon as they were alone. "Are you inviting the whole school again? I can't take it anymore."

"No silly," Sharpay laughed, "just some of my closest friends, Troy and some of his friends."

"So how many people is that?"

"I doubt it'll be more than ten. Depending on how many people Troy decides to invite."

Something was gnawing at the back of Gabriella's mind though, and she was dying to know if it was true. "Why are you doing this?" Gabriella asked.

"To be honest, I can't stand the way Taylor is crushing so bad on Chad and she's so scared to do anything about it. I'm kind of hoping that this small gathering can help her make her move." Sharpay explained as Gabriella heaved a sigh of relief. Gabriella thought that Sharpay might have found out about her and a certain someone.

"So you think that by asking Troy to invite his friends, he will invite Chad, therefore giving Taylor her chance?"

"Exactly, and without even making it too obvious!" Sharpay ended before complimenting herself, "I'm such a genius!"

"Like a regular Einstein," Gabriella commented.

"So…" Sharpay trailed off.

"So?" Gabriella questioned.

"You coming?"

Before Gabriella had time to think, Ms. Darbus's voice rang from all four corners of the room. "Good morning class!" she greeted enthusiastically. For once, Gabriella was grateful towards Ms. Darbus since she could avoid Sharpay's question.

As Ms. Darbus talked, Gabriella was in a world of her own. She wanted to go to Sharpay's party. She really did. But she was not too comfortable having Troy there, let alone in a swimsuit. She thought she could avoid Troy the last time but she was wrong, and now she doubted that she could avoid him at all. Why does Sharpay keep getting her into these situations?

The bell took too long to ring and it gave her a minor migraine when it finally did. Though the pain was slowly ebbing away, she was beyond relieved when she could finally head home after a long and arduous day of school in spite of her throbbing head and knocked out on her bed as soon as she reached home. It was a mentally exhausting day for her.

The next day, Gabriella woke with a much better spirit than the day before. She went to school, continued giving Sharpay dubious answers about whether she was going to the party, endured Troy's looks and listened to Taylor's intelligent debates which were interesting for the most part but she was glad that it was all over. Well, technically.

Her Physics teacher, Ms. Helen, decided to give the entire class a project. They were to work in pairs and each pair should have a girl and a boy. Ms. Helen asked Troy first and Troy picked Gabriella. So now, they had to meet up after school at Troy's house since they agreed upon it for the project. Troy seemed just a little pleased with himself. Just a little.

Currently, while waiting for the time to pass, Gabriella decided to take a trip to a nearby mall with Taylor to get smoothies. She took this opportunity to ask her about Chad, how she actually felt about him and how she felt about Sharpay persistently trying to play matchmaker to them.

"I mean at first I just thought he was really annoying, then after actually noticing him properly, I realized he was pretty cute in a dorky way and I don't know, I guess I developed some kind of crush on him. Trust me, I didn't expect myself to obsess over a guy so much but I really cannot help it!" Taylor gushed. "Am I weird?"

"I'm pretty sure you're not the only girl that gets crazy over a guy."

"But I'm the bookworm type. Usually people like us don't care for such thing…right?" Taylor asked uncertainly.

Gabriella assured her that it was normal. "What about Sharpay though? Isn't she helping you?"

"Oh no, sometimes I really wish she didn't. It gets really irritating because her methods are just too…direct. Not really my style, if you get what I mean."

Gabriella knew. Nothing could get in Sharpay's way. "She's a go-getter."

"Exactly."

Gabriella checked her watch and figured it was time to make her way over to Troy's place. "Hey, I better leave, got a project that's waiting to be done," Gabriella said in an unwilling tone.

"Troy?" Taylor smirked.

Gabriella's mouth twitched up into a smile. Somehow, she knew how Taylor knew, but she asked just to confirm. "And how did you know that?"

"Rumours," Taylor slipped her hands into her pockets, cocked her head to the side and swayed her body, "guess they're true then."

"Unfortunately." Gabriella shook her head still with a smile on her face. In a weird way, she found it interestingly humorous how the entire school fawns over the Bolton brothers. "Well, guess I shouldn't make one of the three _gods_ waiting, so see you tomorrow Taylor."

"Just between you and me, I think he likes you. I mean seriously. He takes notice of you way more than he ever does to any of us girls."

"Bye Taylor!" Gabriella ignored the African-American.

"Just you wait! I can tell something's up…or going to happen."

Gabriella walked off without replying. Was it that obvious? Gabriella thought Troy notices Kayla more. Maybe it is because she finds him everywhere he goes, but he still spends a heck load of time with her. Sure, he asked Gabriela to do the project with him. That has to mean something. Not to mention, the make out session at the pool table and the party where he invited her to his room…_alone_. The way he kept acting, so suggestively, was driving her nuts. What did he want? If he wanted her, why was he still with Kayla? Why was she still thinking about him? Why is this so complicated?

Gabriella kicked an empty drink can that was lying on the floor. They say girls are complicated. Right now, it seemed as though it was the other way around. Sure, he showed signs, but it conflicted with his other actions. But the signs should be obvious enough. It was frustrating.

Before long, she was on the porch of Troy's house. She knocked on the door and waited patiently for someone to get the door. The door clicked open and it swung open to reveal a half-naked Tyler Bolton.

He opened the door with a shocked and confused expression. His eyebrow quirked upwards as he asked, "Do I know you?"

Gabriella scratched the sleeve of her jacket on her lower arm. "I'm looking for Troy," she answered awkwardly and her statement sounded more like a question.

Tyler gave an understanding look before he asked, "Why are you looking for him?"

"Physics project." Gabriella answered simply.

"That's all?" Tyler asked with a smirk, refusing to believe that a project was all she came here for. Most girls do not just come to their house for a "project".

Gabriella swallowed. She knew what he was thinking. She lives with his kind and she knows that dirty thoughts were running through his mind. She did not want to explicitly mention it so she remained silent, waiting for Tyler to say something. When Tyler realized she was not going to say anything, he continued, "You should go to his room and wait. Do you need me to show you?"

"I know where it is, thanks," Gabriella said as she walked into the house. Her reply earned her another smirk from Tyler but it went unnoticed.

All of a sudden, there was a low bark coming from inside the house. Gabriella immediately turned to the source of the noise and saw a golden retriever bounding towards them with its tongue hanging out of its mouth and saliva drooling from it. Before Gabriella even had time to think, Tyler restrained the yellow creature and held it back from Gabriella.

"No," Tyler warned, as the big dog continued to wag its tail and pant heavily.

"I didn't know you guys had a dog…" Gabriella commented.

Tyler's face looked a little confused as he asked, "Troy didn't tell you?"

Gabriella shook her head and bent down to pat the dog. "I didn't see him during the party either," Gabriella answered before she questioned, "It is a 'he' right?"

"It's a 'he'," Tyler affirmed. "We locked him in the basement during the party. He would have gone crazy with all the strangers. He likes company, you see?" Tyler said that last part while looking at the dog fondly and scratching its head.

"What's his name?"

"Buddy," Tyler answered, earning a bark from the dog as confirmation.

Gabriella smiled. She loved dogs and she always wanted one as a companion. However, she thought she better not push it and decided to wait in Troy's room. "I better go…"

Tyler looked up from Buddy and smirked at her once more. "Have fun," he sang.

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she walked up the stairs. She walked the exact route Troy showed her before and reached his room easily. Walking into his room, her eyes were instantly drawn to the photograph of Troy and his girlfriend. She looked around to make sure no one was around before she walked towards it and picked the picture up. He was the stereotypical golden boy, she was the stereotypical boy magnet. How could she compete?

She wanted to slap herself as the thought began to form. She was not trying to compete, she was just here for a project. Nothing more. How could she even believe that there could be anything more to them? For now, they were project partners. After this, they would be just classmates. Simple as that.

Still, she could not help but wander into that part of her mind where her imagination was out of control. She could imagine her in that picture with him, him kissing her like he did against that pool table. All kinds of thoughts of him and her engulfed her mind until it was all she could think about. It was such a blissful thing and yet a horrid feeling, knowing that none of it was true.

"Gabriella?" Troy's shocked voice echoed in the room. Gabriella quickly put the picture back on his table, hoping Troy did not realize. She turned around and what she saw almost made her stop breathing entirely.

In front of her was Troy Bolton with only his basketball shorts on him. His skin was glistening with his sweat from playing basketball earlier and his hair matted due to the sheer amount of sweat his body produced. It should look gross but it was oddly kind of hot. He looked at Gabriella with a shocked expression, feeling exposed all of a sudden. Gabriella was so tempted to look down, she really was. However, she forced herself to keep her eyes up, above his neck. Then, Troy shifted his legs awkwardly, practically forcing Gabriella to shift her attention to his body and did she get an eyesore.

It was exactly what she liked. The way his body had lines to define his chest and his abs, but he was more lean than muscular. She wanted to trace the lines and just feel his body in general. She looked on in a complete daze, unable to look away. However, Troy coughed softly to catch her attention again. He thought it was adorable the way she was so fascinated with his body but he much rather she looked like that at him. He pinched his lips to hide his smile as Gabriella looked at him.

"Do you mind if I took a bath before we start?" Troy asked with a tiny smile, "It'll be fast, I promise." Gabriella nodded.

Next thing she knew, Gabriella was sitting on Troy's bed, running her fingers through her hair in frustration. It was so silly to become so awestruck like that. She did not want to be like those girls, she refused to. It was ludicrous and laughable. _No, no, no, _she thought.

It was only five minutes when Troy came out of the toilet wearing a light blue cotton hoodie with some slacks and Gabriella felt a load off her shoulders seeing how he covered everything up.

"Shall we start?" Gabriella asked politely.

"Sure."

Both Troy and Gabriella got to work immediately and was completely focused on the project. Both were sharing information they had found individually and taking note of what they could potentially use for their project. It was an intense discussion and no one digressed from the project.

However, about half an hour later, after they had discussed the rough outline of what they were planning to do, Gabriella began to feel a little worn out. She resisted the urge to yawn and she succeeded for a few times but in the end she could not stop herself and released a yawn. Troy looked up from the book they were planning to use as reference and instead studied the girl sitting in front of him.

"Tired?" Troy asked.

"Yeah, a little," Gabriella admitted but as she wanted to complete as much of their project as they could, she added, "but I can continue so don't worry just continue with what you were doing."

Troy smiled. Somehow the word "trooper" comes to mind. "How about we take a break?" Troy said as he pushed his book away.

"I'm fine," Gabriella insisted, "continue, please."

Troy ignored Gabriella's words and slid aside the pieces of paper in front of her which they used to plan their draft. He then pushed himself off the bed and walked around it until he was behind Gabriella as Gabriella watched him with suspicious eyes. She felt his hands on her shoulder, pressing them somehow gently but still with strength. The pressure was just nice and it soothed the ache she had begun to feel on her shoulders. It was a comfortable feeling and it was slowly lulling her to sleep.

It was not before long that Gabriella nodded off, just barely conscious of what was happening around her. Her head leaned back on Troy's chest as Troy's hands massaging her shoulders rocked her to sleep. Troy liked the fact that she enjoyed it, so much so that she is falling asleep. He knew he could do whatever he wanted to do with her _if_ he wanted to, but he did not want to ruin any chance he has with her. Though he was curious about one thing.

Troy remembered hearing somewhere before that a guy can find out a lot about a girl by the kind of bra or underwear she wears. Though he does like a feisty girl that he believes to a certain extent Gabriella is, he too likes a sweet girl that he knows will not flirt around with every boy she meets. He can roughly guess what he will find on Gabriella but he is still curious. For a few silent moments, he reasoned with himself and came to a conclusion that now would be the perfect opportunity and that she would never have to know.

With that, his hands slowly moved to slide Gabriella's jacket off of her shoulders. He took note to be extremely cautious about this lest Gabriella awakens. His breaths had become heavy though he was doing his best to steady them and breathe normally. There was something really thrilling about what he was doing, causing his heart to beat faster than normal.

Troy then proceeded to do the same for Gabriella's top, sliding it down her shoulders until Gabriella's bra strap could be seen. It was black. That startled him a little as he expected her to be wearing a more demure color and he began to wonder if she could possibly be wearing one of those black lacy bras he had seen a few times before. _Could she really be one of those raunchy girls? _The thought of her being sexy excited him, more than words can describe. However, before his thoughts could go any further, Troy felt the weight on his chest pulling away. His eyes widened as he realized Gabriella was awake.

Turns out, Gabriella had actually begun to feel cold at her shoulders and was slowly regaining consciousness and at some point, she realized what had happened and what was going on. She immediately pulled away as a reflex reaction, almost terrified of what Troy could have done.

"Gabriella, I-" Troy desperately tried to explain but Gabriella just wanted to move on from this awkward situation.

"I think that was long enough a break, don't you? Let's get back to work, I really want to finish this as soon as-" Gabriella rambled, pulling up her shirt and jacket, but was interrupted by a ringtone.

Gabriella looked at Troy's hand phone that was lying on his bed. It had lit up and it was vibrating furiously as if it was demanding to be answered. Then she saw the picture on the screen and she knew who had called. Kayla.

Troy looked just as stunned and he snatched the phone as soon as he realized who was calling but it was too late. Gabriella already knew. "I better answer it…outside," Troy said nervously while walking out.

Gabriella watched him as he walked out. Once he was out, she let her head fall onto her knees and curled up into a ball on the bed. There was certainly something very wrong with her today. And why did it hurt so much that Kayla was calling Troy? Troy was not hers, she knew that. Kayla has just as much right to call him as any other girl and even herself but why did she feel so betrayed by Troy? Gabriella bit her lip and frowned at Troy's bed.

She remembered the scene of Kayla kissing Troy in front of the entire school, which to Gabriella almost seemed like she was trying to stake her claim on Troy. _Troy is not hers,_ Gabriella furiously thought, getting madder as she remembered how she always acted as if Troy was her boyfriend. It was also annoying and infuriating that Troy too did not react to that in any way. He enjoys it, even. If he really wants to be with her as others are saying, why is he not showing it? Why is he still acting like he is simply playing with everyone's feelings? _What is he doing?_

Even more maddening was the fact that Gabriella did not know what she herself was doing. Usually, she would be able to control herself and take care of herself. She cannot comprehend how she let herself get hypnotized by this playboy jock. She would never have gotten so affected by some guy in the past. Gabriella closed her eyes, mentally cursing herself for her stupidity. However, when she opened them a while later, she found herself looking at a picture of Troy.

As she looked at his photograph, she wondered exactly what his charm was. _He isn't even that good-looking anyway,_ she tried to convince herself, _well, except for his hair…and eyes…and those incredibly soft lips…maybe his body too…_

It was not long after that she began admiring his incredible features. She was doing a bad job at convincing herself but she did not care as she was distracted by thoughts of Troy's abs. She bit her bottom lip as she recalled him walking in earlier without his shirt, the way his sweaty abs looked as he breathed in and out. It was such a turn-on honestly that she desperately wanted to see them again, or better yet, touch them.

All of a sudden, a spark went off in her as she thought about how Kayla probably already did everything she was fantasizing which made Gabriella begin to feel really pissed off. Kayla already kissed those amazing lips of his, touched his soft hair, probably seen his body and felt it too. Gabriella frowned. She was starting to feel jealousy like she never felt before and she did not like it.

Troy re-entered the room amidst Gabriella's jealous thoughts which caught the brunette's attention. Looking at Gabriella, he apologized for making her wait. However, not a word registered in Gabriella's head as her mind was in overdrive.

He was alone in the room with her. Technically, she could do anything she wanted to do to him and no one will know. He wanted her too, right? He would not stop her and she definitely wanted him right then. It was a burning desire that was growing at an accelerated pace. What exactly was stopping her from all her wildest fantasies coming true?

As Gabriella pondered over her thoughts, Troy noticed that Gabriella had a weird expression on her face and wrongly assumed that it was because he had offended her through his actions. Breathing out, he thought about how to apologize as he walked up towards the girl on the bed. As he framed his words, he tried tentatively, "I know you're mad, okay? About just now. I know I was wrong and-".

As soon as Troy was within reach, Gabriella cut off his words by pulling his head close to hers and pressing her lips against his. She was not the least bit interested in apologies. With her hands around his neck, Gabriella kissed Troy with a desire she had not experienced before. Troy, shocked by the sudden turn of events took a while to recover before moving his lips with hers. He was surprised but glad to be able to kiss the girl that was constantly at the edge of his mind and she was more than satisfied that she was able to have this golden boy all to herself. Both parties held onto each other tightly, enjoying the position they were in.

A moment later, in an effort to deepen the kiss, Troy pushed forward, causing Gabriella to lean back and eventually lie on his bed. Troy was now above Gabriella and his hands were on either side of her head as he continued to tug her lips as she did to him. It was almost too tempting for Troy to just take off all her clothes and give her the night of her life but he resisted his urge. Gabriella on the other hand, had no such resistance. Her hands, initially on his neck, travelled down to where the hem of his hoodie is and slid underneath it, as her yearning took over her. She slowly glided her fingers down from his chest to his abs, reveling every touch of his body. As Gabriella's hands were just barely touching Troy's body, Troy moaned, dropping his body down so that he could feel the full effect of her touch.

"Gabriella," Troy moaned, as her fingers started to reach a region that was extremely sensitive. His moan only made Gabriella want more of him and she was just intoxicating to him. He wanted her so badly but he knew if this carried on, she would regret it and he did not want her to have any chance of hating him.

"Gabriella," Troy said breathlessly as he pulled away reluctantly from the girl underneath. Gabriella refused to have any of that and tried to pull Troy back down using his waist but Troy resisted. It was then that Gabriella opened her eyes and Troy saw how upset she was.

"You don't…" Gabriella asked breathlessly as she sat up, shaking her head. She was unsure of what to think because she was so sure he wanted this, wanted her.

Troy steadied his breathing and got off of Gabriella. "Trust me, I want to…but I don't think you want it, not yet."

As Troy's words sunk in, Gabriella realized he was right. She did not want to lose her virginity to him now. She always dreamed it to be really romantic with her boyfriend that she loves, not a moment of impulse. "I'm so sorry Troy, I shouldn't have," Gabriella said remorsefully, "I'm really _really_ sorry."

"It's fine," Troy reassured.

Gabriella bit her lip as a silence fell over the room. After a moment, Gabriella spoke. "I think we should continue this another day." Troy nodded in agreement.

After Gabriella picked up her things, she cast a look at Troy and forced a smile before leaving the room. Troy responded with a smile but as soon as Gabriella left, he fell onto his bed and covered a pillow over his head. That girl was just too good.


	10. Parties and Games

"What?!" the blonde asked, astonished.

Gabriella jumped a little at Sharpay's tone, but at the same time, she did not exactly expect any reaction less than the one she received. She knew what she had set herself up for and she was willing to take whatever Sharpay was going to say, or scream.

After the incident at Troy's house the other day, nothing much has changed. He was still receiving lots of attention, and so was she, though probably of a different kind. He was still hanging around with the jocks and cheerleaders and she was hanging around Sharpay and Taylor. He was still making out with Kayla too frequent for Gabriella's taste and she remained confused.

She did not really know what to expect after what had happened. Maybe she expected Troy to go around bragging about how he scored the new girl, or complain to his friends how the new girl had a crush on him, or maybe even possibly, he might actually ask her out, though in her opinion, was quite a far stretch. But nothing happened. Everything was just the same as it was before. And this made Gabriella feel unnerved.

Did that kiss mean absolutely nothing to him? She hoped not. If she was to be honest, that kiss did mean something to her. Maybe it was because she liked him, or maybe not. The most probable, logical answer she could accept was that it was the first time she had wanted to kiss someone so badly, and it was impulsive and irrational. Did she like it? Well, she could not say she completely hated it, and she did not entirely regret it. It was a moment, though she would rather leave it at that. Just a moment. A moment that will not happen again.

Things between the pair were slightly more awkward, though it may just be on Gabriella's side. Every time they were in close proximity, like in biology class, she could always feel a sort of tension between them and she did not like it. He did not talk to her much, just casual topics and their physics project was understood to be put on hold. It was as though the universe was trying to test who would break first, who would give in to the other to ease the tension, but Gabriella knew she would not be the one to do so. There was absolutely nothing going on between them.

Aside from Troy related issues, Gabriella took time to visit the dance rehearsals as she had promised. It was rather interesting and since she was always keen to learn how to dance, she figured why not. So when Darren asked her afterwards if she wanted to join them, she agreed and would begin rehearsals whenever she felt ready.

Returning to the present, Gabriella now faced a pissed off Sharpay and she leaned back a little out of instinct. She knew she practically asked for it when she made her decision but there was something worse that she was hoping to avoid.

"Why on earth did you come to a pool party without a bikini, or for the matter of fact, any swimwear at all?"

Gabriella winced a little at her tone. "I haven't swam for a long time and my old one was too small," she lied. She had one bikini that was slightly smaller but would ultimately still fit fine on her. "No need to freak out, Sharpay. I brought t-shirt and shorts."

"No. Uh-uh. There is no way you are going out there, where cute shirtless jocks are going to want to check you out, in t-shirt and shorts," Sharpay said, clearly repulsed at such an idea.

The guys arrived a while earlier, Troy included. There were four of them and they were all in their swimming trunks when they arrived. Each of them wore a shirt that was to be taken off afterwards. Troy wore a grey East High shirt with a red outline of the famous East High wildcat and black swimming trunks which resembled guy boxers. As soon as they arrived, Sharpay announced for everyone get into their swimwear so that they can begin the party. That was when Gabriella pulled Sharpay aside to tell her the news.

"Who cares what they think?" Gabriella muttered.

"I do. Come on. I think I may be able to find a bikini for you."

"Sharpay…" Gabriella groaned. Before she knew it, she was being dragged up a grand staircase by Sharpay.

Sharpay's house was…huge. That pretty much sums it all up. It was a mansion, practically the size of a castle. There was a field in the front of the house with a pathway for vehicles to drive in. There was a garden to the side and the pool was hidden behind the house. Inside the house, there was anything anyone could ever ask for. There was an entertainment room to watch movies or listen to music, a library with shelves and shelves of books…heck, even the employees room was bigger than Gabriella's own.

So it probably made sense that Gabriella had to run up three stories and through a long corridor to finally arrive at Sharpay's room, which had another connecting room. Sharpay finally released Gabriella's wrist and strode over to the room. Gabriella peeked in and was overwhelmed at the sight. The room was a closet. There were at least five cupboards in there and assuming she had a cupboard for every season, she still had extra. She too had separate drawers for her handbags and boxes and boxes of shoes. Not only that, the room was still big enough to accommodate two extra couches. Clothes were strewn all over the room. It was insane.

"Wow" was all Gabriella could manage.

Sharpay expertly walked over to one of the cupboard and opened it. Inside were all kinds of swimwear of varying sizes. Some were hung and some were chucked on the bottom of the cupboard. She surveyed the mess and picked a bikini set out.

"Try this on." Sharpay held out her pick, to Gabriella's horror. The thing would barely cover anything up, which was precisely what it was intended to do. Furthermore, it was pink. Pink was not her favorite color.

"That's…" Gabriella started but could not find the right word, "small. And pink. "

"What's wrong with it?" Sharpay frowned at the revealing article of clothing.

"Sharpay, there really is no need for that," Gabriella urged.

"If you don't like it, we can change it, but there is no way I am letting you go out in front of the guys and swim in whatever you plan on wearing." Sharpay then threw the pink bikini in the cupboard and it joined the rest of the other swimwear at the bottom. At that instant, something caught her attention and she began digging through the pile. She selected one top of a bikini and tried to find the matching bottom. With some effort, she found it.

"How about this one?" Sharpay dangled the white bikini set in front of Gabriella. "Not as bad as the other and no pink."

"You know what Sharpay, I think my period just came so I may just have to sit out of this one," Gabriella shook her head, about to leave the room.

However, Sharpay grabbed her before she could escape and shoved the white two-piece into her hands. "Then go check. If it really did come, prove it and you're excused, otherwise I expect to see you out in this."

"How am I supposed to prove it?" Gabriella asked exasperatedly.

Sharpay cocked her head to the side. "Show me the stain," she said, as if it was the silliest question in the world. "Now stop procrastinating. Go!"

"You suck so bad, Sharpay."

Ten minutes later, Gabriella was in Sharpay's enormous toilet in Sharpay's white bikini, staring into the mirror with her hands on edge of the sink. The top had two white strings tied behind her neck and another two at her back. The bottom also had two strings to be tied at either side of her hip. It was not as revealing as Gabriella would have thought, but it was still a bikini.

Knowing she could never win Sharpay, Gabriella sighed. She removed the rubber band around her wrist that she had prepared before and put her hair into a ponytail, such that her long thick mane fell over her shoulders. After one last look, Gabriella left the toilet, stuffing her clothes into her bag.

Sharpay was waiting outside, and as soon as she saw Gabriella coming out, she scanned the brunette up and down. She smiled and gave an approving nod. "Come on, they're probably waiting for us."

Sharpay was wrong however, because when they went down to meet the rest of the guests, they were already in the swimming pool, having a water fight. Taylor was at the side of the pool, laughing as she watched the guys trying to shove water onto each other, occasionally jumping onto one another, trying to push each other into the water. Nobody really noticed the two girls' arrival and Sharpay walked off towards a storage room to come out with a volleyball.

"Heads up!" she exclaimed, throwing the ball over her head and towards the boys in the pool. Zeke and Jason, whose names Gabriella had come to learn, dodged the ball out of reflex, leaving Troy and Chad to clamor for the ball. Troy's basketball skills showed as he caught the ball in mid-flight, skillfully snatching it from Chad.

"Next time, Bolton," Chad warned.

"Fat chance, Danforth. You wouldn't be able to catch this ball even if my hands were tied." Troy retorted, earning a shove from Chad as the pair laughed at their banter.

In the midst of their laughter, however, a certain brunette caught Troy's eye and his laughter died down. Standing awkwardly with one hand scratching her other arm was Gabriella, and it was apparent that she was trying to cover up her exposed stomach. Troy found it endearing, knowing that she was uncomfortable showing that much skin, that she was embarrassed. He, on the other hand, did not see anything about Gabriella that he thought she should feel embarrassed about though. Her body looked good and so did she.

"Don't hog the ball," Chad exclaimed, interrupting Troy's thoughts as he snatched the ball from Troy's hands. Hoping that no one saw his momentary lapse, he pretended to look away while sneaking glances at Gabriella who was being coaxed by Sharpay to not feel self-conscious and just enjoy herself. He found himself smiling to himself each time he saw her, which made him a little worried about himself. He just might be going crazy. Never had he been so affected by a girl before, not even his past girlfriend.

After fooling around with the ball for a while, the boys were finally joined by Sharpay and Gabriella, along with Taylor. Sharpay got to work immediately as she set her plan into motion. Since Kelsi was adamant not to come, despite Sharpay's endless protests one might add, it left the group with an odd number of people to which Sharpay happily offered to sit out. Truthfully, Gabriella would not have minded sitting out, more than happy actually since she did not feel comfortable with anyone other than Sharpay and Taylor. However, she knew it was pointless to fight Sharpay on anything, so she eased herself down into a sitting position before pushing herself off the edge of the pool and into the cool waters.

"Okay, so I'm going to split the teams now. Since there are four boys and two girls, I think it would probably be best if there was a girl and two boys on each team. Sounds fair?"

Before anyone had any time to respond, Sharpay continued. "Okay so…" she began but saw Chad putting his arm onto Troy's shoulder with a pleading look towards her. "No, Chad. I will not put you two together. You should learn to spend time with some…_other_ people." Sharpay dismissed, with a small smirk towards Taylor. Taylor glared at Sharpay and luckily for Taylor, no one else realized what was going on besides the three girls.

"So Chad, you will be with…" Sharpay pretended to look through the people half-submerged in the pool, "Taylor and Zeke. So that leaves Troy, Jason and Gabriella in the other team. Alright?" Again, before anyone could respond, Sharpay was off, calling for one of her servants to help set up the net for the game.

Despite his preference to be on the same side as Troy, Chad did not seem too affected with Sharpay's decision as he immediately gathered his team and talked strategy. Gabriella managed to get Taylor's attention and smirked at the African-American who bit her lips to stop herself from smiling, clearly ecstatic as she wadded through the water towards Chad. Meanwhile, on Gabriella's side, Troy was trying to explain to Jason what was going on.

"So what exactly are we playing?" Jason asked.

"Basketball. What do you think?"

Jason scratched his head with a confused frown on his face. "Okay…but I'm pretty sure we can't dribble in the water…Can we?" Troy slapped his forehead. Jason was one of his best friends, but honestly? Sometimes, Troy wonders how Jason even managed to make it to high school. Leaning against the side of the pool, Gabriella tried to hide a smile at the exchange she just heard. She found it rather attractive of Troy to try and be patient with a friend, even with his obvious frustration. Not every boy is willing to do that.

"Well," Chad's voice boomed across the water after finalizing on his team's strategy, interrupting Troy and Jason's conversation as well as Gabriella's thoughts, "we are going to own all of your asses, so you better get ready. To lose, that is, because I have an A-team right here," Chad announced as he placed his arm over Zeke and Taylor's shoulder. Gabriella's eyes widened in surprise while Taylor looked almost giddy. "And I don't care how good your basketball is, hoops, because this is a different ball game, and I am not losing to you."

Troy grinned in response. "Oh yeah? Because the way I see it, you better get ready to be whooped because I'm not backing down without a fight. You can talk smack all you want, but we all know who's going to win eventually so…" he trailed off. Gabriella noticed a determination in Troy's eyes that showed his competitiveness. It was hot. That, even Gabriella had to admit.

"No way man," Chad said before turning his attention to Jason, "Jason, remember you have to try to hit the ball out of the pool or into the net to score a point." Troy groaned.

Jason turned to Troy, flustered. "Wh-What? I thought you said we have to go _over_ the net?!" Troy glared at a smug Chad before turning Jason such that they was facing away from Chad to prevent Chad from distracting them. He then slowly went over all the rules with Jason once more.

As soon as they were done, the nets too were just about done setting up. Jason then swam towards Gabriella, with Troy watching curiously. "Okay, remember Gabi, we have to hit the ball _over_ the net and_ inside_ the pool. If we hit the net or out of the pool, they get a point."

Gabriella smiled in amusement. "Got it, Jason." Jason then smiled, pleased, and made his way back to Troy. It was then that Gabriella saw Troy smiling as well and before they knew it, they were looking at each other, both feeling a little awkward. Troy then made the first move by swimming over to where Gabriella was and she watched as Troy swam towards her. She noticed how athletic he looked when he was swimming but before she had time to think of anything else, Troy was already right in front of her, looking down at her…while half naked. _Oh God._

"Um…so are you ready?" Troy asked. Gabriella nodded, feeling how close he was. "If you don't really want to play, you don't have to. You can just stand around and we'll handle it."

"I'm fine with playing. Just tell me where I should be." Gabriella repeated.

"Are you sure? I swear we'll be fine if you-" Troy's sentence got cut off as another voice shouted over his.

"Troy, man, I need you right up front and center. This fight is between you and me and I want to settle this once and for all. So get your butt up here and face me or you can just admit defeat and surrender right now if you are too scared," Chad challenged with the volleyball lodged between his side and arm.

Troy rolled his eyes, making Gabriella smile slightly, but otherwise ignored his best friend as he continued speaking to the girl in front of him. "Um…I guess you could just stand in front Taylor and block her shots? I'll handle Chad and Jason should be able to take Zeke. Is that alright?" he asked tentatively. Somehow, Gabriella always had to power to make him feel less certain of himself.

"Sure."

Troy smiled and turned to face Chad. "Alright you are going down," he said as he got into his central position.

"Just like old times huh?" Chad grinned. Sharpay walked out of the doors towards the pool just as her servants are finished with the net.

"If it was anything like the old times, we know who will be winning won't we?" Troy tilted his head with a grin of his own.

"Game on."

Sharpay stood next to the net with both hands on her hips. "Ready?" Both Troy and Chad nodded without taking their eyes off each other, with grins plastered on their faces. "The ball?" Sharpay asked Chad. He finally broke eye contact with Troy to pass the ball to Sharpay. "So who wants to start first?"

Troy nodded towards Chad. "He can start. He needs all the help he can get."

Chad chuckled. "That's a mistake on your part. I'm going to make you regret this."

"Game on." Troy repeated.

Fifteen minutes into the game, it was clear that the match was mainly just between Troy and Chad. Zeke and Jason too had their fair share of action but Gabriella and Taylor only managed to get the ball a few times. Gabriella was not too bad at sports, mostly because of her brothers but playing in water was the challenge. She found it hard to move in the water, which the guys seemed not to have trouble with, and to some extent she was glad the ball did not get passed to her often. Taylor, on the other hand, struggled quite a bit.

"Oompf," Taylor grunted as she tried to jump for the high ball heading her way. She could not quite manage the height of the ball and it lightly bumped into her stretched hands but eventually fell into the water behind her.

"One point to Troy's team," Sharpay declared. "The score's now seven-five in Troy's team's favor."

Troy had a wide grin on his face. Although Gabriella was not too interested in this game, she can get pretty competitive at times and she understood the need and the satisfaction of the win, so she understood how Troy felt. On the other hand, Gabriella knew Taylor was feeling dejected after ruining another of their team's chance at catching up. That was clear just from the slight frown on her face and Gabriella was not the only one to notice, to Sharpay's delight.

"Hey, it's alright. We still have a chance to catch up. Just stay behind me and hit the ball towards me if you don't think you can get it over the net." Chad consoled.

"Yeah, just relax and have fun, it doesn't matter if we lose. The only thing that will actually be lost is Chad's pride anyway," Zeke chipped in, to which Taylor smiled while Chad glared. Sharpay, proud of her achievement, stood with her elbows on the pole holding up the net, with a smug look on her face. After realizing Taylor was not taking notice of her, she turned to Gabriella, raising both eyebrows repeatedly. Gabriella nodded, impressed, while sneaking glances Taylor and Chad.

"Come on, let's finish this!' Zeke shouted as soon as his team was ready. The guys all looked at each other, all with a grin of their own, as Taylor finally paid attention to the other girls who were smiling back at her. Taylor tried to hide a smile but failed and eventually decided to just roll her eyes at her friends.

The game resumed soon after and Chad was more determined than ever to reduce the score margin. Presently, Troy's team was leading by a point. The ball flew in Zeke's direction and he hit it towards Gabriella, since it was dangerously close to the edge of the pool and he was trying to get the ball back in the playing area. Maybe it was because she had not expected it to come her way or maybe she was just not paying attention, but either way she could not react fast enough to deflect the ball and it ended up hitting her smack in her face.

It hurt, though it was probably less painful than the sound of the impact might have suggested. She heard gasps and opened her eyes to see all the shocked face around her. She especially took notice of the blue eyes that had shock and concern written all over them. Without thinking, Troy quickly made his way over to Gabriella and held her shoulders firmly as both looked into each other's eyes.

"Are you okay?" Troy's concern was clearly evident in his tone.

Gabriella waved him off. "Fine," she dismissed, "let's just continue-"

"Holy shit. Gabriella. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I swear." Zeke rambled his apology.

Gabriella diverted her attention from Troy to Zeke. "I'm fine, really. You don't have to feel bad," she assured him. She hated it when people fussed over her. It was a minor accident. It was not as if she lost a limb or something.

Troy shook Gabriella's shoulders, demanding the brunette's attention. "Are you sure?" he asked again, with a hand gently touching her forehead, examining the extent of the impact of the ball.

"Yes, I'm fine. Can we continue?" she gestured to the game that was being halted because of her.

Troy looked straight into Gabriella's eyes to ensure that she was telling the truth, that she was really fine. Something in her eyes told him that she was okay but that did not stop him from looking her over once more just to make sure that there was no serious injury. Sharpay, who recovered from the shock first, called the game back to order and everyone followed her instructions, though still a little rattled, except for Troy and Gabriella.

Troy took a deep breath as he looked into Gabriella's eyes once more before reluctantly leaving to return to his position. Gabriella immediately felt that bizarre feeling every time Troy did something like that. The intensity of the moment shook her up more than the ball hitting her and it took her awhile to return back to normal. She glanced at Sharpay, knowing the blonde would be looking at her, and saw a glint in her eye, which she already understood it to be the hatching of another plan, which meant trouble for Gabriella. Gabriella groaned softly, with her face in her hands, just as Troy turned to look at her once more. He got a little worried by her actions, but he knew he probably already pushed his boundaries as a friend and decided to just observe her from afar.

The game after that became a lot milder and Gabriella knew that most, if not all, of it had to do with her. She felt terrible knowing that she had ruined their fun, even though they had tried to hide it by continuing their taunts with each other. It was a much more serious game now and the obvious attempts to keep the mood light only made it much more unbearable for Gabriella. No one was even really trying to win anymore, so it was a relief for her that Sharpay announced that they should just end the game.

"So the score is now ten-all. So I guess it's a tie," Sharpay declared, the boredom in her tone obvious.

"Well, I guess no one wins. Guess we're equal huh?" Chad raised his clenched fist towards Troy.

Troy obliged by bumping his fist with Chad's, but he did not agree with what Chad said. "Come on, Chad, you and I both know that my team won. Throughout the game, we were either in the lead or tied."

Chad scoffed. "Who cares what happens in the game. Everyone knows only the final score matters."

Sharpay, who was not really competitive herself and was starting to get a little sick of their banter, decided to interrupt. "I need to settle some food stuff now. Taylor, Chad, can you please follow me to the kitchen. I need your help."

"The kitchen?" Zeke piped up upon hearing "kitchen". "Can I come?"

"Can I come too? I'm hungry," Jason added, rubbing his stomach.

"What? No-" Sharpay stopped abruptly with whatever she was about to say, as her eyes turned to Gabriella. "Actually yeah, I could use your help. Come on."

It was a set-up, Gabriella realized. She did not want and could not be left alone with Troy. Things always get weird and she was sure this would be no exception.

"Sharpay, I can help too," Gabriella said urgently. The desperation must have been obvious as some of the group gave her weird looks.

"No it's fine. I have just enough people. Besides, my kitchen isn't big enough for so many people," Sharpay responded, just as Taylor, Chad, Zeke and Jason got out of the pool. She then started to walk into house with the rest of the group trailing along, Zeke and Jason rather excited at the idea of food.

_Seriously? _Gabriella thought to herself. _Even her toilets would be able to accommodate all seven of us. _"Really, I can help," Gabriella insisted, as she began to lift herself out of the pool.

"Ta-ta," Sharpay sang as she disappeared from Gabriella's view. _Ugh_, Gabriella was so pissed.

"You know, you didn't have to get Sharpay to do that," Troy said directly behind Gabriella, causing her to fall back into the pool. She slowly turned to face the person she promised herself she would avoid.

"Who ever said I wanted this. I didn't get Sharpay to do anything."

He ignored her. "If you wanted to talk to me, you could have just approached me, you know? You didn't have to wear that just to get my attention. Not that I'm complaining. How's the face by the way?"

"I'm fine. Besides, what happens to my face is none of your concern. And get over yourself. Sharpay made me."

"I'm sure she did," he answered sarcastically. "But I got to give it to you, you look _hot_," he said as his eyes moved down her body. Gabriella looked away angrily. How many girls did he say that to?

Just then, Troy noticed how Gabriella's hair clung onto her skin, blocking his view of her neck. He lifted his hand to move her ponytail such that it no longer stuck to her neck. He then slowly slid his finger from the top of her neck to where it meets the shoulder, and his eyes could not leave her neck the entire time. Something about the way her hair is being tied up in a ponytail made her neck look so sexy and inviting. However, before anything happened, Gabriella moved away…as usual. Troy rolled his eyes, unnoticed by Gabriella. He was sick of her avoiding him.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Troy asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of his tone.

Gabriella scoffed. "Do what? I'm sorry if I've angered his highness," Gabriella said without a glance at him.

"Stop it."

The tone of his voice made Gabriella snap her head to face Troy, who had an intense look on his face. He was mad at her, which was kind of her intention but what she did not intend for to happen was that he would actually look kind of hot. She bit her lip, a little afraid but at the same time, feeling more attracted to him.

Troy saw her biting her lip and slowly dropped his fierce demeanor. He did not want Gabriella to be scared of him. He sighed. He lowered his eyes to her hand, which he could tell through the moving water, was balled up into a fist. He reached his hand over to unclench the fingers and laced his fingers through them. He started at it for a moment before looking up to read the brunette's expression.

Her eyebrows were furrowed as she stared at their hands and thought hard. Although Troy's hand firmly grabbed onto hers, she did not do the same. Her fingers did not clasp around his hand but instead just hung from his hand. It felt right somehow, but she knew it should not have been. That was how they trick a girl. She should know. They were never serious about having relationships. Everything was a fling, a one-time off thing. They were not supposed to last. But she wanted it to.

Troy's other hand touched her face, snapping Gabriella from her thoughts. She looked at the boy who was holding her hand, the boy who was sending her chills. Mesmerized, she looked into the most enchanting blue eyes she had ever seen, desperate for an answer.

He knew she was confused and frustrated, but he did not understand why she would be. Why it was so difficult for her to comprehend that he likes her and for her to give him a chance was beyond him. Gently, he cupped her cheek in the hand that was not holding onto hers. He slowly leaned in, closing his eyes such that her lips were the only thing in his vision.

Gabriella saw Troy leaning in, but it took her a moment to actually register what was happening. As her mind slowly cleared, she was not sure if she could go through with it. She had made a promise to herself that this was not going to happen again. With that in mind, she jerked back against the wall of the swimming pool. "No."

However, Troy was not about to let her off so easily. In a fast swoop, he captured her lips in a kiss. He heard her surprised gasp but he did not stop. He pressed his lips against her as his hand moved to the back of her head, pushing her towards him.

Gabriella placed her hand on his bare chest, struggling, trying to push him away. She made protesting sounds in hope that he would halt. However, Troy's lips did not leave hers but instead deepened the kiss. Eventually, he could feel her body relaxing and her kissing him back. Protesting noises became noises of pleasure as the hand not holding his enjoyed his body. Her fingers even curled around his hand, as she allowed him to control her.

As Troy felt her giving in, he gently led the kiss as his lips moved with hers. He positioned his hand on her neck as her hand slid down his body. At some point in time, her hand moved down to his abdomen which not many people know is actually one of his most sensitive areas, and he planned to keep it that way for a while longer, even with his current attraction to Gabriella. Suppressing a moan, he kept his mouth busy by pressing his lips harder onto Gabriella's but as her hand continued to travel downwards, dangerously close to his "little brother", Troy could not help but release a groan.

Luckily for Troy, Gabriella broke the kiss as she needed air and her hand dropped from his stomach, while the other continued to hold onto Troy's hand. Her chest heaved up and down as Troy watched the brunette in front of him. Somehow, he liked the fact that she did not attempt to remove her hand from his and he wanted her to know it as well.

He lifted her hand up and out of the water, turned it such that the back of her hand was facing him and kissed it affectionately. With his mouth still on her hand, Troy looked up to see Gabriella's reaction, only to find her looking at her hand apprehensively.

Meanwhile, unknown to the pair, the rest of the group had been watching from inside the house. After Sharpay left Taylor alone with Chad in the storeroom to help move some soda cans, she had made her way into a room with a clear view of the pool area. Excited at the scene unfolding in front of her, she went back to find Taylor, who initially unwillingly followed. The rest of the boys tagged along, curious, and soon the entire group was watching the show, Taylor with her mouth open, while Sharpay and the rest of the boys all grinned widely.

Seeing Gabriella's hesitation, Troy cupped her cheek and forced her to look up at him. He looked straight into her eyes and she too did the same, except hers was filled with doubt. His eyes were then drawn to a stray strand of hair on Gabriella's face and he used a finger to push it behind her ears. Somewhat pleased with himself, he unintentionally gave Gabriella a whimsical smile.

The silence between them was a comfortable one, which should have spooked Gabriella but she was not thinking about that. They stared at each other, both unsure of what exactly is happening. Gabriella was the first to break eye contact, looking away to the side, where she caught a glimpse of their friends as they tried to hide themselves. Immediately, she retracted the hand that was holding Troy's and squirmed out from between Troy and the wall she was being pushed against.

Startled, Troy looked to where Gabriella had moments ago. Although their friends had managed to hide themselves from the pair's view when Troy looked over, Chad's hair peeked out just enough for Troy to draw the link. By the time he understood what made Gabriella run, she was pushing herself out of the pool.

"Wait. No, Gab," Troy tried to salvage the situation.

"Leave me alone." Gabriella walked away from the pool towards the house as Troy hurriedly got himself out of the pool, chasing after the brunette. He managed to catch her wrist but she shook him off without even looking at him and continued on her way, leaving Troy standing by the pool, feeling frustrated. _They were so going to pay for that._


End file.
